New Hampshire Elks Hoop Shoot champion, Tilak Patel, an 11-year-old representative of the Nashua Elks, will be one of 36 boy and girl state champions who will be competing at the New England Regional Hoop Shoot Championships in Portland, Maine, on Saturday.

The Contest will start at 9:15 a.m. and is open to the public. The New England Regional is one of 12 being held in the country to determine the 72 National Finalists. This is the fourth level of competition. Six years ago, the Greater Nashua Elks had its first National Hoop Shoot champion when 12-year-old Caleb Donnelly of Hudson won the 12-13 Boys Division and was crowned a national champion.

Now in its 40th year, the Elks Hoop Shoot National Free Throw Contest, sponsored by the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, has grown into the largest co-educational sports program in the country, allowing boys and girls to compete separately in three age-groups, 8-9, 10-11 and 12-13. Each contest consists of 25 free throws. Over three million boys and girls have competed in this year’s program.

The six regional winners from the Maine competition will have a chance to stake their claim to one of six coveted spots on the Elks Hoop Shoot plaque in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

Regional Headquarters for the three-day event will be the Wyndham Portland Airport Hotel where over 250 Elks, parents and Hoop Shoot officials will congregate for the weekend activities.

Friday evening, the Regional Hoop Shoot Champions and their families will be treated to a Get Acquainted Party from 5:30-6:30 p.m. On Saturday Morning, all will be bussed to the Portland Lodge of Elks for the ‘Breakfast of Champions’ and then on to Scarborough High School for the Regional Hoop Shoot Contest. The Awards Banquet will be held back at the Wyndham Hotel at 5 p.m. with a speaking and awards program. A Sunday morning breakfast will be served for all the departing guests. Richard Blinn of Massachusetts is the New England Director of the Regional Hoop Shoot.