Saturday at Langston Hughes Elementary four Parks and Recreation basketball players breathed a sigh of relief.

Not because the games were over, but because the season had begun.

“I was kind of nervous about today,” Ballaz player Caleb Diarmond said. “But it’s better now that the first game is over.”

Diarmond’s teammate Cody Allen and two members of the opposing team, Andrew Harvey and Micah Perala agreed.

The foursome along with nearly 900 other area kids helped tip off the Parks and Recreation basketball season with nearly 50 games at four different sites across Lawrence, including the Community Building, the Holcom Park center and the East Lawrence Rec center.

Parks and Recreation youth sports supervisor Lee Ice shared the sense of relief.

“It was good to see everyone out there,” Ice said. “For me when the first day happens like it did Saturday it means everyone was where they were supposed to be, the facilities were ready and the kids had fun.”

The atmosphere around many of the sites Saturday helped the Parks and Recreation department promote the game in many different ways.

The success logistically meant the programs were well organized and ready to accommodate the growing number of kids who participated.

But more importantly, according to Ice, it was the kids who made the day happen.

“The kids are the first ones to know if something isn’t going right,” he said. “If they aren’t having fun they’re going to go do something else.”

Many of the kids who played on Saturday have been part of the organization for some time.

Perala was one of them.

“I like to play basketball quite a bit,” he said. “I’ve been playing for four years now.”

The league Perala and the nearly 20 other kids at Langston Hughes Elementary are part of, the fifth and sixth-grade Jhawk league, like all of the leagues, offered another aspect the kids enjoyed.

“I like that everybody gets a shot to play,” Harvey said. “Everybody on both teams got to play and it was fun.”

With the first day of the league schedule out of the way, Ice felt things would run more smoothly as the weeks went by.

“I think next Saturday will be a lot easier,” Ice said. “Once we get going and everybody gets into place things should run pretty easily.”

Although the logistical aspects of organizing a league with nearly 900 players and counting could be daunting, there was one thing that superseded everything else according to Ice.

“To see the smiles on the kids’ faces out there was great,” Ice said. “And really when it’s all said and done, that’s the bottom line.”