|
The Northeastern Conference Junior Basketball League (NCJBL) is a division of the Northeastern Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Youth Ministries. This league was revamped in August 1999 by a group of young people who sought to provide a sports ministry for the girls and boys of the church ages 13 – 17. This league has served as a training ground and a feeder for the Northeastern Conference Basketball League, and various College Basketball Programs.
The NCJBL is comprised of teams from the Seventh-day Adventist Churches located in the New York Metro Area. At its inception, twenty teams participated in the league. They were: Lighthouse Tabernacle, South Brooklyn, Bethel, East New York, Brooklyn Temple, New Dimension, Rogers Avenue, Brooklyn Faith, Christian Fellowship, Staten Island; Sharon, Bronx, Ephesus, Linden, Queensboro Temple, Lebanon, Corona, Ebenezer, Pilgrim Tabernacle and White Plains. Over the years other teams such as New Life, Flatbush, Horeb, Mount of Olives, Elim, Mount Sinai, Jamaica, Central Islip, Elmont and Mount Vernon joined. On average 16 to 20 teams participate each season.
The missions and goals of this league embody the vision of one of the founding members of the Seventh- day Adventist Church, Mrs. Ellen G. White. She wrote: “We have an army of youth today who can do much if they are property directed and encouraged. We want our children to believe the truth. We want them to act a part in well organized plans for helping other youth. Let all be so trained that they may rightly represent the truth, giving them reason of the hope that is within them, and honoring God in any branch of the work where they are qualified to labor.”
|
