Always guaranteed to offer up a flat-out fun experience, the Harlem Globetrotters bring their one-of-a-kind show to Red Deer Jan. 27th at the Enmax Centrium.

Featuring some of the most elite ‘dunkers’ on the planet, the event gets underway at 2 p.m. The Globetrotters are taking their show on the road to more than 250 North American cities during their upcoming tour.

The Globetrotters show will also feature a star-studded roster including Showmen like Big Easy Lofton, Hi-Lite Bruton, Ant Atkinson and Hammer Harrison, as well as fan favorites Firefly Fisher, Bull Bullard, Thunder Law and Cheese Chisholm.

To match the growing popularity of the Globetrotters’ female stars, the team will also bring the largest female roster in team history to fans across the continent including TNT Lister, Hoops Green, Torch George, Swish Young and Mighty Mortimer.

Green joined the Globetrotters in 2017 becoming only the 15th woman to ever don the red, white and blue uniform in the team’s 93-year history.

“It’s an amazing opportunity. It’s such an iconic brand that’s been around for 93 years now, too,” she said, during a chat from Huntsville, Alabama. “It’s great to be part of this organization, doing what I love and what my passion is. And also being able to travel all over the world and have a positive effect on people’s lives. It’s also about being a good role model, and just having fun doing that,” she added.

She was introduced to the sport by her older brother who has served as one of her greatest mentors.

“I started when I was about four or five years old. I picked up a ball because of my older brother. He’s a few years older than me, and I always wanted to do what he was doing – and he was playing basketball! So my entire childhood, I grew up playing one-on-one against him and playing against all his friends,” she recalled. “I was typically the only girl, but it helped lead me to where I am today.”

Green had a stellar career at Lexington Catholic High School in Kentucky where she helped the team to a 160-14 record over four years.

She led the team to two state championships, was ranked among the best players in the country, earning All-State and All-Region honors.

“I just always have had fun with it. You don’t need a lot – all you need is a basketball and a hoop, but you can always work on your ball-handling. It’s something I have always loved at a young age,” she said, adding how she would spend hours watching and studying the greats of the sport as well.

“It’s like an art to me – the creativity of it. You can do so much with it. That’s what draws me to it.”

She went on to attend the University of Texas – El Paso where she ranks number 11 on the school’s list for all-time wins, with 79, and totaled 650 career points for UTEP.

Hoops has also played professionally overseas in the Czech Republic and Spain. She also took her talents to Mexico in 2014 – all while managing to earn her graduate degree in Sports Management at Southern New Hampshire University in 2015, according to a release.

Prior to joining the team, Hoops spent some time coaching and mentoring youngsters and said becoming a Globetrotter is something inspirational to her.

“I have always wanted to have a positive impact and be able to make someone smile,” she explained. “Basketball gives me the opportunity to reach out and inspire the youth. Especially being a female player, it allows young girls to believe in themselves.”

In her free time, Hoops enjoys giving back to the community by volunteering at soup kitchens in her community and helps serve food on Thanksgiving at her local homeless shelter.

She also enjoys dancing and expressing her creativity through drawing.

Meanwhile, after pretty much every game, the Harlem Globetrotters remain on the court for autographs and photographs with fans.

“It’s really special at every game, because we know that it’s somebody’s first Globetrotters game. We play a lot – we play every single day, but we always know anytime we enter that arena that it’s somebody’s first game. So we want to give them something positive and fun to leave with. We want them to have a good first impression of us.

“We want them to always come back.

“Once we run out there and look up into the stands, we feed off of that energy. It’s a cool experience,” she explained, adding it’s always amazing to see how basketball can bring people together.

“It’s entertainment as well as competitive basketball. We mix the two, so it’s unique and special,” she said, adding that games have lots of audience interaction as well.

“We are taking it to another level, and there is even more engagement and opportunities throughout the game where we can (interact) with the fans and have fun.”

Tickets are available at harlemglobetrotters.com, www.ticketsalberta.com, the Tickets Alberta box office or by phone at 1-866-340-4450.