Masterful Playing

LAKEWOOD RANCH — A tiny basketball hoop hangs from the wall in Mike Kelley’s office.

A championship T-shirt drapes across a chair, and certificates and plaques, including his most recent MVP award, line the shelves of a bookcase along the back wall.

As an assistant principal at B.D. Gullett Elementary School in Lakewood Ranch, Kelley’s days are filled with meetings, educational sessions with faculty and students and in-school volunteer programs, among other tasks.

But on Sunday mornings, Kelley takes on a new role — this time on the basketball court.

Kelley is a part of a men’s 50-and-over basketball league that plays pickup games at Eckerd College. The Roto-Rooter team, which features players from St. Petersburg to Clearwater, also travels across the country to compete in tournaments.

Most recently, Kelley and his teammates went a perfect 5-0 to win the Masters Basketball Association National Masters Championships May 4 through May 9, in Coral Springs. The tournament featured teams from the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.

Kelley also was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, which is given to the most productive player on the winning team.

“It’s not just about me,” Kelley says. “We play very well together as a team. We have a high passing basketball IQ.”

Kelley played basketball as a child, but he didn’t really start to love the sport until he was a 6-foot, 4-inch junior in high school.

“Then it became fun,” Kelley says with a laugh.

Kelley went on to play center for Fort Lewis College, in Colorado.

“I was tall and I could jump,” Kelley says.

Kelley met his Roto-Rooter teammates by chance about two years ago after relocating from Miami. Kelley joined them for a pickup game and hasn’t stopped playing since.

“I enjoy the fellowship and the camaraderie of playing with guys that I know and like,” Kelley says. “It’s a bunch of guys hanging out and bantering. It’s a good time. Success makes it fun, too.”

Last summer, Kelley and several members of the Roto-Rooter team, which include a physical education teacher, a certified public accountant and the creator of MIKE Sports Entertainment, represented the United States’ 50+ team in the 12th World Maxibasketball Championship, in Thessaloniki, Greece. The team finished fourth overall.

This year, the Tampa-area team has competed in three tournaments and plans to compete in the 2014 Huntsman World Senior Games in October, in Utah.

Kelley says not just anyone can walk onto the team.

“When we invite guys to (try out) and we see them play, they don’t really realize they are under the microscope,” he says. “For us, it’s all about playing basketball.”

In addition to competing with his league in Tampa, Kelley also competes on a local men’s basketball league with other players from the Lakewood Ranch and East Bradenton areas, including Steve Hester and Ken Sisson. The three East County residents met while coaching their sons’ Manatee Basketball Club Elite travel team.

Kelley joined the 4-on-4 league about four years ago. Since then, the team has won the 40+ league five of the past six years. The league is divided into three sessions with games held every Thursday night, at Longwood Run Community Center, in Sarasota.

“It’s a neat community of basketball that goes under the radar,” Kelley says. “We’re successful because we play very good team basketball.”