Special to the News-Herald

Nansemond Suffolk Academy (NSA) varsity coach Don Birmingham recently continued the tradition of sending out invitations to past NSA basketball players to come back out to the gym and play some basketball.

&uot;I hoped that the alumni would look at it as a good way to work off some holiday meals while having fun,&uot; stated Birmingham. Many past alumni met that challenge by attending some or all the days offered which included Dec. 29-31 and Jan. 1st.

The games began at 9:45 AM and lasted approximately an hour and a half. This gave Birmingham some exciting practices for his team, while allowing time-outs for coaching pointers and player development.

The NSA varsity team was coming off a confidence builder by winning the 2003 Academy Christmas Classic where they defeated Isle of Wight Academy, South Hampton Academy and Tidewater Academy, but the NSA alumni remained unintimidated. The alumni came out hitting the hoops to make for another high scoring event.

Finn Host smiled&uot; I came to teach the little guys how to play ball&uot;. Joey Konefal added that, &uot;this gave me a chance to play basketball with old friends, teammates, alumni, and coaches; also to see how the current team plays.&uot;

Jonathan Taylor agreed. &uot;This gave the alumni a chance to get out, get in shape while having fun at the same time.&uot;

While the varsity team might have looked at the alumni as &uot;old guys&uot;, some of these alumni are currently playing sports in college. There was not much talk of Ben Gay and aspirin since most like to stay active and competitive.

Alumni Kyle Waters plays lacrosse for the Rutgers Division I team that made the sweet 16 this year. Kyle felt it was &uot;good to come back and see how the team is progressing and make a personal contribution as an alumni, and it’s fun!

Another alumni, Nate Grover, a college freshman Division I tennis player at Old Dominion University agrees. &uot; I used this as an opportunity to stick with a fitness regimen during the holidays," he said. "Basketball is a great cross-training sport for tennis.&uot;

Birmingham the called event &uot;a complete success with over 25 alumni showing up the first day. Many alumni told me they were really looking forward to this.&uot;

Spectators are welcome; hope to see you next year!

Here is an alphabetical list of the alumni that came out to play. Included are the years they graduated from NSA, also included are the colleges they attend (if applicable).

Will Beale-2000-(Virginia Military Institute)

Allen Bynum 2003-(Hampden Sydney)

Rudy Copeland-1994-currently asst. coach of NSA Varsity basketball

Lee Cross 1997-(James Madison University graduate), current coach of NSA JV basketball

Robert Crumpler 2003 (baseball @ Virginia Military Institute),

Jeff Fleming 2000- (Va. Tech)

Scott Fleming-1998

(Va. Tech)

Nate Grover 2003 (tennis @ Old Dominion University)

Finn Host 2001- (Virginia Tech)

Nathaniel Johnson 2002 (Furman)

Joey Konefal 2001 (Duke)

Steve Laine 1979- children currently attend NSA

Greg McGehee-1999

(

)

Jeff Robinson-2000-(University of Virginia)

Richard Starkey-1998-NSA network administrator

Jonathan Taylor 2001-(James Madison University)

Kyle Waters 2001-(lacrosse @ Rutgers)

Brandon Winslow 2003- (basketball @ Chowan)

Brent Winslow-200

(Old Dominion University)