Students, community – all awed by performance of Champions Forever

Champions Forever is a group “recently featured on the finals of America's Got Talent in 2013--- Bruce and Diane and their family of 12 children have been in over 35 countries, using their Spin-tacular Basketball Show to entertain and share a message of hope to this generation!  Bruce Crevier is a "Four Time Guinness World Record Holder" for basketball spinning and has spun as many as 21 basketballs at the same time.  He also holds the endurance world record and has spun one basketball without a break for 22 hours and 12 minutes.” 

 

The 12 children in order of age include: Jacob, Caleb, Isaiah, Katie, Josiah, Hollie, Ben, Micah, Zach, Nathan, and the two youngest (a set of twins) Tori and Tessa. Four of the students have graduated and are making their way in the world apart from their family. The still travel with the family and perform with them when they can. 

 

The first part of the afternoon show focuses on basketball skills, not only with spinning balls, but also family coordinated stunts. After some audience participation and a coordination challenge for the coaches and some faculty members, the program moved on to the unicycle section. Even the smallest of the family took part in the performance with the older family members maneuvering on 10 ft. tall cycles. Not only did they ride the unicycles, they also did things with basketballs and juggling pins. The unicycles have steps for mounting while someone holds the cycles, but dismounting required hanging onto the basketball backboards, plus some additional family help. 

 

The family does not only entertain, but also addresses Goals, Attitudes, Morals and Excellence, hence their acronym of GAME. The family states their mission as: To forever uplift the name of Jesus Christ, The Champion of our Faith, To know Jesus Christ and to make Him known, To use our talents and resources to inspire, encourage, equip and challenge youth and adults to become Champions in the Game of Life. 

 

Jones County enjoyed the program through Tamara Mathews’ memorial money from Bob and Marilyn Iverson, Tamara’s children Philip and Madison, Philip and Audrey Mathews and the Avera St. Mary’s Foundation suicide prevention division. 

 

Most that attended agreed that it was great fun and an incredibly unique experience, some even went twice! Most of the students, though in complete awe, worried for the children sitting atop the massive unicycles. “They were really impressive, but I think I feared for their lives more than they did,” said senior Melyssa Manecke.