Hoop Dreams   

Van Shea Iven remembers competing in the Elks National Hoop Shoot in the late 1970s. Little did he know that his children would far surpass his scores. 

The children’s free-throw competition is simple: Take 25 shots at the rim and see who makes the most baskets. Nearly 100,000 competitors registered for the 2025 Hoop Shoot, but after school, local, district, state, and regional competitions, the field narrowed to 12 in each age group. Tenley (age 9), tied for first place in Oklahoma, which was a nice surprise to her parents, Van Shea and Summer. “Honestly, she couldn’t hit the bottom of the net when she first started last year, but she kept at it. I never dreamed Tenley would make it to the state level that first year, and she did it again this year,” Van Shea said. “One of Tenley’s balls got stuck between the backboard and the rim during the tie-breaker, so it counted as a miss. She didn’t get to move to the next level, but we are so proud of her.” 

Turner (age 11), who plays a wide variety of sports, has placed 1st in state hoops competitions the last two years. This year, he won the National Regional in Dallas to advance to the finals in Chicago. “Shooting free throws is a very independent sport compared to team sports. I take a deep breath and concentrate really hard.” 

The finals took place in a 10,387-seat arena in front of 2,500 silent spectators. All eyes were on Turner as he took his place at the free-throw line. Deep breath. Concentrate. Shoot. 

He made his first shot. Missed the second. Made the third. At the end of 25 shots, he had made 22 baskets–winning third in the nation! Tenley, his sister and biggest cheerleader, said, “I truthfully didn’t expect him to do that well, but I was super happy when he did!” 

A Family Effort 

Turner and Tenley’s successes are a family effort. During the three months before the competition, the Ivens practiced shooting nearly every night. Van Shea and Summer take turns rebounding for the kids so they can each get in 150 to 250 successful shots every day. “They both plan to compete again next year, but we won’t love them any less if they don’t make it past the first round,” Van Shea said. “They’ve become great friends with the other competitors, cheering each other along.” Besides Turner, three other Oklahomans succeeded at the national Hoop Shoot: Pressley Page of Kingfisher, Amalyn Switzer of Leedey, and Cooper Thompson of Inola. Cooper won first place with a perfect score in his division. Cooper’s name will be added to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and each finalist gets personalized sports cards of themselves to trade with their friends. 

“We joke that our eleven-year-old son took us on vacation to Chicago,” Van Shea said with a laugh. “But he spent many hours in the gym to make that happen.” Turner’s parents carried his 4-foot trophy onto the airplane back home, where airline staff found room for it in the wheelchair storage area. “The trophies get bigger at each competition,” Turner said. “I have about 20 in my room.” “We recently found my childhood trophies from when I used to compete,” Van Shea said. “The kids knew that I scored well back then, but my mother had written my scores on the bottom. Maybe I didn’t do as well as I remembered. They’ve both out-shot me—by a long shot.”