Men and women’s winter basketball leagues available in Rock Falls

ROCK FALLS — Bill Leftwich wants to get more women playing basketball.

Leftwich organizes the Real Men and Real Women Play Basketball in the Half-Court winter leagues, which will begin on Sunday, Feb. 16. The leagues will feature three 4-on-4 half-court games for men and two games for women every Sunday afternoon in the Rock Falls Middle School gymnasium, 1701 12th Ave.

There is a limit of six players per team with a cost of $20 per player. The men’s league will feature two separate leagues, one for ages 40 and over, and an Open league for ages 17 and up.

The season will conclude Sunday, April 6, with two tournaments for all leagues: “Half-Court Heroes” and “Best of Worst.”

The basketball leagues are managed by Leftwich, a basketball fanatic from Rock Falls who started organizing local men’s basketball leagues in the late 1970s.

“If I was any good at playing, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Leftwich said. “But as it turns out, I wasn’t. So, I turned my focus towards getting others on the court.”

Leftwich started holding games at RFMS in 1993 after multiple other schools turned him down. Former RFMS Principal Jeff Brown was the first to play.

“He only had one condition, he wanted to play,” Leftwich joked. “It was bad. The guy was All-Conference at Illinois State when he played there. He beat on us for about three years.”

Leftwich created his first women’s league in 2010 with help from Don Robinson (1939-2011), a former Prophetstown basketball coach and a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

“Most of those ladies were around 35-45 years old,” Leftwich said. “Nobody would have thought it at first but they were untouchable. Their first season they went 40 and zero.”

Over time, those group members either moved on or aged out. Now, Leftwich is hoping to rebuild the women’s league and is looking for players.

“Somehow we have to keep this thing going,” Leftwich said. “The women are out there and they’re amazing. We just need to get them to come play with us.”

For more information, call Leftwich at 815-625-3973.