"I have some ministry news to share. After 13 years of ministry at First Family Church, the FLASH basketball program will be ending at the conclusion of this season. We have had an amazing run in the youth basketball world, and I personally have many great memories of Ankeny kids representing the FLASH program.

There are way to many people for me to thank for all of these years. To the coaches in the program, both present and past, thank you for being great role models to our athletes. Your willingness to sacrifice time to coach our kids was appreciated by many.

I have made many friends along this journey, from other coaches, to officials, to tournament directors. I have enjoyed interacting with you all these years and hope you felt the same about me. My goal for our kids was to represent God in all we do on and off the court. I hope you all felt I was an example of just that.

This decision was not an easy one, it was made over a matter of months as I weighed several options. Ultimately I determined that the amount of time and energy this program takes from me is just too great. The future of our current teams will be determined by the coaches of those teams.

As I take these next steps, I know two things for sure. One, I know this is the best decision for me and my family and two I will miss the best part of youth basketball, coaching the kids."

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RJ Parks

Director of FLASH Basketball

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If you have any further questions please email them to us at flash@firstfamily.church