Though college basketball is over, the UA has members of a different kind of team participating in a regional competition today.

The university's Students in Free Enterprise team is in San Francisco taking part in one of 21 regional competitions being held across the country this week.

According to the international SIFE Web site, more than 15,000 students in 40 countries work on SIFE projects throughout the year.

The projects are designed to teach and advance the concepts of free enterprise, including market economics, entrepreneurship, personal and financial success and business ethics.

At the regional competition, each university creates a 24-minute multimedia presentation comprising pictures and a scripted speech to demonstrate the projects they worked on during the year, said Melinda Burke, UA SIFE team adviser.

Judges then evaluate each team based on the four free enterprise criteria.

The top two regional teams qualify for nationals, which will be held in Kansas City, Mo. in May. Of the 160 teams competing in nationals, only the top team will be eligible to head to the SIFE World Cup in Toronto, Canada in the fall.

"It's kind of like the basketball playoffs," Burke said. "You have to make it through the regional pool to make it to the big dance."

Burke said she started the SIFE team at the UA in 1998, which has qualified for nationals every year since and has been the national first runner-up for the last two years.

Retailing senior and SIFE team member Shelley Huff said the second-place finishes are especially difficult because some SIFE members spend 20 or more hours a week working on projects and often sacrifice other areas of their lives.

"It's so hard because you spent all year dedicated to this," Huff said. "You put your heart into it. It's heartbreaking when you don't win."

The SIFE team has worked on more than 20 successful projects throughout the campus and community this year, Burke said.

One project was the "A Store" at the Tucson Mall, which opened this year as a collaborative project between SIFE, the UofA Bookstore and the Center for Retailing and Consumer Sciences. The store sells UA apparel and gives students the opportunity to be involved in all aspects of its operation.

Members of the SIFE team have also journeyed to San Carlos, Mexico for the last four years to teach students in the town about global economics, Burke said. Every elementary and middle school student in San Carlos is taught the basics of imports, exports and other concepts, Huff said.

"We're actually changing the educational level of kids in this town," Huff said, which she said is something she believes will have a great impact on the future of San Carlos and its residents.

Team members also ran Credit Wise Cats, a peer-to-peer financial counseling program, did consulting for a small business in Tucson and gave economic education lessons for local elementary and high school students, Burke said.

Burke said the emphasis of SIFE and the competition is teaching the community how the free market works.

"The whole notion that runs throughout SIFE is the notion of servant leadership: As you help others, you're also helping yourself," Burke said.