South LA
Initiative Archive December 2009
New Order in the (Basketball) Court When the final buzzer sounded in the Markham Middle School gym, the St. Louis Spirit had defeated the New Orleans Buccaneers. Everyone was a winner, though, in a summer basketball league for 11- to 14-year-olds that bridged distrust among three housing developments in Watts. And they showed it afterwards with a picnic and bonfire on Bolsa Chica Beach.
The Character Counts league brought together 48 kids – including two girls – from neighborhoods around Markham dominated by three different gangs. After being merged into six teams, the young athletes learned to rely on each other and build new friendships that Nickerson staffers Karl Stephens and Gregory Thomas hope will continue when the middle-schoolers return to class.
“If it wasn't for this program,” said Stephens, who also runs the Nickerson Recreation Center, “these kids wouldn't even talk to each other during the school year. We hope these new relationships change that.”
“During the six weeks we played,” added Thomas, “the kids began to see themselves and their teammates differently. They saw they had much more in common than different. They developed a real sense of unity.”
The league mixed athletic training and character development, including inspirational speakers. Appearing the day of the championship game was Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's chief official for gang prevention, Jeff Carr. Participants also went on outings to Magic Mountain and Raging Waters.
Each team in the league was named for a club in the American Basketball Association, a nod to People for Parks' Ozzie Silna, former owner of the ABA's St. Louis franchise. Silna underwrote the league's expenses, including jerseys patterned after the original uniforms.
Stephens and People for Parks are looking for supporters to sponsor a flag football program in the fall. |
