AUBURN – Auburn-Lewiston YMCA is accepting registrations for its 2009 baseball hitting instruction program. The program is designed to help kids with stance, form and technique. It once again will run out of the Bates Mill No. 2 in a new, brighter location off Mill Street. The program will run from March 23 to May 1.

Players will be grouped by age to assure proper distance and instruction. For six weeks the players will attend one class per week consisting of 60 minutes of instruction. Each class is limited to eight players to maximize individual help and instruction. Team slots are available but any team registering would responsible for providing their own coach.

There will be several class options during the week for each age group. The age groups are 8-9, 10-12 and 13-15. Member fees are $45 per player. Non-member fees are $55 per player. Team fees are $250 per team. A YMCA youth membership at the YMCA is $50, and it is good for one year.

Volunteers are needed. For information on registration or volunteering, please stop by the YMCA at 62 Turner Street, visit www.alymca.com, or call 795-4095.

River Valley coaches’ meetings

RUMFORD/MEXICO – Coaches meetings have been scheduled for the Women’s Modified Softball League and the River Valley Men’s Slow Pitch league.

The women’s meeting will take place Tuesday, March 31 at 5:30 p.m., with the men’s meeting at 6:30 p.m. One representative per team must attend the meeting. For more information, call Carmine 364-4301 or email [email protected].

FCHN hoop tournament

FARMINGTON – Franklin Community Health Network’s third-annual Champions for Health Care Basketball Tournament takes place April 3-5 at the University of Maine at Farmington’s Dearborn Gymnasium.

Seven teams, organized by Ranor, Inc., will participate in the round robin tournament. All proceeds go towards Evergreen Behavioral Service’s new Child Development Center. Evergreen’s Child Development Center provides therapeutic evaluation and treatment for children and adolescents with developmental disorders including autism, Asperger’s Disorder, ADHD, and other developmental and behavioral problems. The Center opened in December 2008, and is one of only three such centers in Maine. Over 160 children and their families have already made their way through the doors of the center.

This year’s tournament will consist of two pools of teams. The top two teams from each pool will advance to the championship game being held Sunday, April 5.

There are a variety of sponsorship opportunities for area businesses including championship sponsor, gold and silver sponsors, social gathering sponsor, and scoreboard sponsor. Benefits of sponsorship vary among levels, but may include VIP seating for the tournament games, signage at the reception and awards ceremony, and company name and logo displayed at the tournament game sponsored.

For additional information, contact Maureen Goudreau in the FCHN Foundation Office at 779-2471.

Elks Hoop Shoot

SCARBOROUGH – On Saturday, March 28, young free-throw shooters hailing from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont will compete in the regional championship of the Elks Hoop Shoot national free throw contest at 9 a.m. at Scarborough High School. Each boy or girl already has won a local, district and state championship.

The competition started last fall with more than 3 million participants, ages 8 to 13. At stake is a chance to advance to the national finals, where 72 participants will compete April 23-26 at the birthplace of basketball, Springfield, Mass.

Now in its 37th year, the hoop shoot has grown into the largest coeducational sports program in the country, allowing boys and girls to compete separately in three age groups: 8-9, 10-11 and 12-13. Each contest consists of 25 free throws – 10 in round one, 15 in round two – with ties being resolved in five-shot shoot-offs. The six regional winners from the competition in Scarborough will have a chance to stake their claim to one of six coveted spots on the Elks “Hoop Shoot” plaque in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Elks “Hoop Shoot” National Free Throw Contest is entirely funded by the Elks National Foundation, the charitable arm of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Last year, the Foundation disbursed more than $13 million in support of youth programs, veterans’ services, drug education programs, college scholarships and aid to people with disabilities.