INDIANOLA, Iowa — You can’t slow these granny’s down, Granny Basketball took over the Indianola High School on Saturday.

Created to provide safe basketball for women over the age of 50, while supporting local charities, Granny Basketball spans across 10 states and even into Canada.

Linda Alloway has been the coach for the Indy Pacemakers for 3 years and says getting a chance to stay on the court meets a lot.

“I played Iowa Girls Basketball, I was a coach at Saydel, and I taught at Indianola and Adair-Casey and it’s just fun and it’s something that, girls’ basketball, it doesn’t go out of your blood.”

The women gather to practice around once a week and participate in tournaments most weekends in April. They provide their own referees and play three games at each meet. The rules dictate you can’t run, and you can’t jump, but you can hurry!

Shelly Lewis says it helps her stay active in life and in her community.

“There’s a lot of comradery, everybody is here for the same reason, to have fun,” said Lewis. “We are about community and it’s fun to see the ladies come out and it kind of takes you back to your roots. If you grew up in Iowa and you played girls basketball it awesome to have adoptions to be able to get back on the court.”

At each meet the host picks a charity to support. Saturday, canned goods and free will donations were accepted for KIA Koda, an animal rescue in Indianola, and Helping Hands.

For 83-year-old Catherine Stout, it’s an opportunity to travel the country and spend time with some awesome ladies.

“The best part about granny basketball, I think, is just getting to know all the other ladies, we sometimes travel together all over the Unites States, we’ve been to Tennessee, Oklahoma, Wisconsin for tournaments and the families support us and we raise lots of money for charity.”

Catherine is happy to see the program grow. The League has grown to support 5 on 5 as well as regular 6 on 6. Recently Canada started a team, so the games will now be international.

To learn more about the Granny Basketball League, Inc. visit their website.