VIDALIA, La. &045; For a few local students, going to New Orleans will be about more than the French Quarter and great jazz.

It will be chance to show their stuff off for a crowd of thousands.

Eight members of the Miss-Lou Teams of Tomorrow basketball program will perform their basketball skills before and during halftime of a Harlem Globetrotters’ game in New Orleans today.

&uot;They are so excited,&uot; said Torri Webber, who leads the program. &uot;They’ve performed before, but just for a small crowds. This will be in front of thousands. It will be huge.&uot;

The Teams of Tomorrow is a basketball program originally developed by a West Monroe schoolteacher that teaches children basketball skills. Webber and Ricky Brown heard about the program and decided to bring it to the local area by starting the Miss-Lou Teams of Tomorrow.

Team members go through a nine-part curriculum, learning handling and dribbling drills starting in the fall. In the spring, the team members show off their skills in performances.

&uot;It’s a wholesome, great activity for them to do,&uot; Webber said. &uot;They move up at their own pace and each day of practice we end with chartwork. They chart the skills they’ve learned and see how their learning and progressing through new skills.&uot;

The local program has about 20 kids in total, but only eight could make the trip to New Orleans because of a number of conflicting events, Webber said.

The Miss-Lou TOT has performed for Vidalia Lower and Upper Elementary Schools and will perform for Cathedral School and Trinity Episcopal School in April.

The Miss-Lou team will perform with members of teams from Monroe and Ruston who have also been participating in the TOT program. The three teams have practiced together for the big performance in recent weeks.

&uot;It meant a lot to me to see how well our kids did at the practice in West Monroe,&uot; Webber said. &uot;I was really hoping for the best, and they did awesome. My kids were great and they made lots of new friends. It was great to work with the other teams.&uot;

Members of the team are Kayleigh Jowers, Nicholas Johnston, Alexa Mallory, Teranie Williams, Brett Brown, Laura Perilloux, Stewart Mallory, Grace Jeanfreau and Clayton Burnette.

Webber and Ricky Brown lead the program.

In addition to their performances at the game, the team will also have a chance to meet the Globetrotters before the game as part of a program Harlem does called Globetrotter University. Just watching the Globetrotters might be an eye-opening experience for most of the MissLou TOT members, many of whom aren’t yet familiar with the clown princes of basketball.

&uot;Some of them have watched the Globetrotters,&uot; Webber said. &uot;A couple of them caught a promotion for them on TV the other day. Most of them don’t really know what to expect, but afterwards, they’ll be big fans.&uot;

Logan Young will be going to New Orleans but he won’t be performing. A broken arm will keep him off the court for the performances, but he’ll still get a chance to meet the Globetrotters and cheer on his teammates as they perform.

&uot;We’re going to be there,&uot; Chretia Young, Logan’s mother, said. &uot;We thought it was a good chance to learn about supporting your team and he’ll get to do everything but perform.&uot;

Chretia said the program has been wonderful for Logan’s coordination and his focus.