Horry County first responders help revitalize Atlantic Beach basketball court

ATLANTIC BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - Horry County first responders are making a slam dunk for the town of Atlantic Beach.

WMBF News got an inside look at how these men and women are meeting a need by sprucing up an older basketball court.

Crews from the Lake Arrowhead fire station said it’s not always about fighting fires, and they’ve proved that by bringing the town of Atlantic Beach a new basketball court.

From a rusted goal to overgrown weeds, one Atlantic Beach basketball court was hardly getting any use.

But it wasn’t for a lack of kids in the community, needing a place to play.

“They would see their kids in the community when they were there on calls when they’re up there doing training they interact and they wanted to give back,” said Edward Begovich, the battalion chief of Lake Arrowhead fire station.

So a crew from Fire Station 7 that saw the court often while out on calls jumped into action.

“So we become part of that community we’re not just in there on their bad days we’re in there on good days they see us they interact with us we become part of that community and that’s what they’re really trying to achieve there,” said Begovich.

The idea of fixing up the court took months but the crew in charge says they met with the town of Atlantic Beach to turn that idea into reality.

“Anytime you can take something that’s you know basketball courts, roller rinks, baseball fields, all of these things are gathering places in the community so and you can give them something like that back where the community can gather hopefully it’ll be a steppingstone,” said Michael Rahill a Firefighter and EMT at Fire Station 7.

What started as a small project of removing the weeds, adding a fresh coat of paint, and even new nets, was all completed in a day’s work as the entire lake arrowhead department played a part.

Chief Quentin Robinson for the Atlantic Beach Police Department says the best part was seeing the gratitude from the community.

“This is a great thing, said Robinson. “We’re very big on community here in the town of Atlantic Beach. It means a lot to them. Now they got someplace that the kids can go shoot basketball -we got a little court right here at the community center that I do see kids every now and then come over here and play but not a full basketball court so I know they’ll be appreciated of the work the fire department did.”

The crews from Station 7 say they want to complete a few more community projects soon and Robinson says the town is already planning a community game of basketball.

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