When Walter Perkins III started the Brandon Bolts in the winter of 1999, he expected to get together a single competitive youth basketball team. Little did he know how quickly the program would take off.
    In four years the Bolts has grown to 11 traveling teams with more than 150 boys and girls. This weekend eight of those 11 teams will compete in the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) 2003 Florida State Championships.
    "It's going to be very, very interesting," said Perkins. "We'll be playing against the cream-of-the-crop teams in the state. I think we're going to do very well.'
    Perkins predicted that all eight teams -- five boys teams from 12-and-under to 17-and-under and three girls teams from 13-and-under to 15-and-under -- will finish in the top eight in their respective age groups, and will automatically earn invitations to July's national tournament in Tampa.
    Saturday and Sunday the boys teams will play the state series in Ft. Myers, and the girls will travel to Altamonte Springs.
    When he started the program, Perkins' goal was to provide competitive youth basketball. With coaching experience through the YMCA and the Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation Department, Perkins saw the need for a higher level developmental program, much like those available in other sports in Brandon.
    In addition, Perkins saw the opportunity the build character among the athletes.
    "Youth basketball is the tool to get kids to do what they need to do," Perkins said. "You need discipline, desire, will and determination in life, not just in basketball. We're trying to teach kids to find a way to take something positive from every situation."
    With this philosophy, the Bolts has partnered this year with the Brandon Boys and Girls Club. The club gave the Bolts an indoor home court, and in turn Perkins, coaches and players have donated their time to help out at the club.
    "I like the idea that it is very well-structured," said Ricky Gallon, director of the Bill Carey Brandon Unit of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tampa . "They're teaching them both basketball skills and life skills. The first week we were here they helped put up the playground equipment."
    "We really try to make the kids understand things don't come easy in life," said Perkins.
    With children from a wide variety of backgrounds, Perkins and his coaching staff equip themselves to become better teachers of the sport, and to help their players learn from each other. For the past two years, the Bolts coaching staff has attended clinics given through the University of South Florida and the Junior NBA and Junior WNBA, boht of which the organization is a member.
    Several Brandon Bolts players have also made the transition to high school basketball. Korri Ennis, who has been with the Bolts for three years, is a point guard for Brandon High School.
    "They helped prepare me when it came time to be ready to play high school," said Ennis. "I was already prepared for everything that was going to happen. I like how everybody's dedicated to getting things done. We go to each tournament to do our best and to have fun."
    Though he will not play with his team this weekend because he was invited to a Florida State University basketball camp, Ennis thinks his No. 3-ranked team will do well.
    As encouragement, Perkins suggests that his players watch college basketball games to reinforce the fundamentals he and his coaches teach, which include dribbling and the team aspect of the game.
    "We teach them that in life you are always gong to be part of a team," Perkins said. "You have to be a part of the team to be successful."