Zillah Mighty Leopards coach ready to pass the ball after 21 years

TOPPENISH — Basketballs pound against the hardwood floor as some 90 ball-dribbling fifth-graders from Zillah make their way into the gym at Valley View Elementary School in Toppenish.

Laughter fills the air as the somewhat rambunctious dribblers bounce their basketballs. One sporting a red mohawk spins his ball on one finger.

But the apparent chaos abruptly ends with the sound of physical education teacher Bob Burke’s whistle. The students — getting ready to perform for Valley View and Kirkwood elementary students during an assembly — fall into formation.

Dressed in black T-shirts with their school logo on the front and matching shorts, they dribble in choreographed unison, changing position each time Burke blows his whistle.

They are the Mighty Leopards — a fifth-grade, ball-dribbling drill team at Zillah Intermediate School with a long, storied history.

For more than 20 years, the Mighty Leopards have performed up and down the Yakima Valley during halftime at high school and college basketball games, impressing audiences with their skill and teamwork.

Burke, 61, started the program 21 years ago to give every fifth-grader a chance to be part of a team, regardless of athletic ability. His career ends this year with retirement but the program has become such a popular fixture that two other teachers will take it over.

For most of the grade-schoolers, the team marks the first time they ever donned a uniform and experienced the pride that comes with doing so. Some had never dribbled a basketball before.

"What that does for kids is everybody becomes equal — I mean everybody," Burke says. "Everything comes into one — the rich, the poor, the athletic, the nonathletic, the disabled."

Rockin’ ball

At Valley View, not only does the team perform, but students are pulled out from the audience to take a whirl around the gym with the ball. Team member Khalia Kayutak, 10, stands with her ball under her arm, scanning the bleachers looking for a recruit.

"I like it," Khalia says. "You get to go places, and yeah — I love that — and I get to pick people out."

She pulls Kirkwood fourth-grader Judieth Garcia- Meraz, 9, onto the floor. Judieth beams, "excited" about being among the many students picked.

"This is good community interaction, community participation," says Burke, overlooking the scene.

After a few drills that include a between-the-legs move, the invited dribblers return to the bleachers. The Mighty Leopards then head into a hallway outside the gym, only to return to the sounds of "We Will Rock You" by the group Queen.

As the team circles the floor, some dribbling, others spinning balls on their fingers, the crowd stamps their feet on the bleachers and sways to the beat.

Inclusion is what the team is all about, Burke says.

"It gives them a sense of confidence and a sense of belonging," he says.

Then the team breaks into two groups at opposite ends of the gym, pulling on blindfolds and dribbling toward each other, weaving through one another.

Team member Alex Valdez, 11, says dribbling between his legs is challenging, but fun.

"We always have fun," Alex says. "Mr. Burke tries to have us have the most fun we can. Once you do it, it gets a lot easier."

"Big Al" is printed on the back of Alex’s shirt. All the kids have nicknames on their shirts. Khalia’s says "Texan Girl."

"Because I’m from Texas," she says.

But for 11-year-old Bailey Sparks, whose nickname is "Sparky," it’s all about being in front of a crowd.

"I like it a lot," he says excitedly. "I like it because you get to perform in front of crowds and you get to get noticed."

Participation over competition

While the philosophy of giving everyone a crack at playing a sport is a common objective of physical education, building a team on the concept is unique, says Wayne Dawkins of Toronto, Canada, a commissioner for the National Prep School Athletics Association.

The association oversees high school sports leagues in the United States and Canada.

"At that age, the important thing he is doing is that you remove competition from team sports, the weaker athlete now can participate without feeling like the weakest link," he says. "I really like it. Kids will have a lot more success and it will raise their self-esteem. Introducing competition too early alienates kids before development and team-building can begin."

Zillah School District Superintendent Kevin McKay says kids have to be caught up on homework and stay out of trouble before they can participate in the Mighty Leopards, requirements that make them better students.

"It’s huge," McKay says of the program. "The kids look forward so much to presenting and being a Mighty Leopard. It’s something that they want to participate in so bad that they are conscious about their behavior because they don’t want that taken away from them."

Every fifth-grader at the intermediate school for the past 21 years has participated.

"It’s a tradition," McKay says. "Bob is a very special guy. We’re very lucky to have the program and lucky to have had Bob."

The district is honoring Burke with a banquet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Zillah Intermediate School.

"I’m going to miss it a lot," he says. "But when you’re 62, it’s time to call it quits." He turns 62 in August.

"I’m going to miss teachers, students — I’m gonna miss everything," he says. "It’s just the grind that I’m not going to miss."

Burke first created the program while teaching sixth-grade PE in the small town of Touchet near Walla Walla.

He then brought the program to Rochester, south of Olympia. After returning to the Yakima Valley, where he was raised, he applied for a teaching job at Zillah. The program landed him the job, he says.

"It gives a kid a childhood," he says. "And what that means to me is it gives a childhood memory — and life is a mean son of gun, man — and this is a childhood memory that they will have forever. I have never had one kid that I have had to kick off the team. Not one."

Burke says the idea for the team came from the father of his childhood friend, Yakima attorney Jamie Carmody.

The pair grew up in Ellensburg, where Jim Carmody taught them ball tricks and how to dribble.

"And that’s what I remember from Jim Carmody," Burke says.

• This report has been updated to correct information on Jim Carmody, who is alive and well and living in Ellensburg. 

• Phil Ferolito can be reached at 509-577-7749, or pferolito@yakimaherald.com.