About Us

Centreville United Methodist Church (CUMC) Upward Sports began in 2006.  We are a Christ-centered community outreach ministry that aims to provide the Best Sports Experience for every child.  CUMC Upward Sports includes basketball and cheerleading.  Our one division of cheerleaders includes 1^st - 3^rd grade girls. We have seven divisions of basketball to include co-ed Kindergarten, 1^st - 2^nd grade boys, 1^st- 2^nd grade girls, 3^rd - 4^th grade boys, 3^rd - 4^th grade girls, 5^th - 6^th grade boys, and 5^th - 6^th grade girls.  We are a partner ministry of Upward SportsTM based in Spartanburg, South Carolina with over 500,000 kids participating in multiple sports hosted by some 2000 leagues across the nation and overseas.  Our all-volunteer staff is drawn from Centreville, Virginia area adults and youth (7^th - 12^th) grades.  You do not have to be a member of CUMC to register as a participant or to volunteer as a staffer in this outreach ministry.

CUMC is located at 6400 Old Centreville Road in Centreville, Virginia (a suburb of Washington, DC).  All CUMC Upward Sports events take place on the CUMC campus with all games being held at the CUMC Recreational Outreach Center on the north end of the campus .  Online registration begins on September 1^st  each year and continues until divisions reach capacity, usually by mid-September.  Player and cheerleader evaluations take place in October.  Coaches training occurs in November,  Draft results are released in December.  Our season runs from January to March.

Christ remains the center of all we do throughout the season.  Coaches share a devotion with the kids for 10 minutes in the middle of each weekly practice.  Every game on Saturday begins with a prayer led by the referees with both teams in a circle holding hands.  Every child receives equal playing time across the course of the season.  And while the games are competitive, we retain an emphasis on having fun and developing skills by not keeping score in the Kindergarten and 1^st - 2^nd grade divisions and by not keeping team standings in any of the divisions.

Another unique aspect of CUMC Upward Sports is our high energy environment that includes player introductions before each game complete with NBA-style music, streamers and a fog machine.  And if that’s not enough, the CUMC Upward mascot “Uproar”–all seven feet of him when measured from the tip of his tail to the top of his mane–is there to give the players and cheerleaders high fives as they emerge from the pre-game tunnel.  Teams gather in our Sunday school (locker) rooms after our games where each player and cheerleader earns an award for their performance.  The eight-week season culminates in late March with a celebration ceremony complete with entertainment, a season highlights video and an end-of-season award for each player and cheerleader.