(Standing, left to right: Team sponsor Red Kohli, Nick, Coach Brit Kohli and assistant Shay Kassise. Seated in the center, with face covered by trophy: Dante Lonardo. Seated, left to right, on a court hot enough to fry eggs: Dakotah, Tavion, Cameron, Alex, Dat, Mason and Dallas.)Smoke from two charcoal grills curled their way onto the sun-baked court in Allentown's Roosevelt Park yesterday. It was mid-afternoon, hottest time of day. Cheers and screams from about 150 fans along the perimeter added a few more degrees of heat.
It was the climax of a summer's worth of basketball games.
The 'ship.
What is even more amazing is that the athletes who faced each other were boys and girls between 7 and 10 years old. They had clawed at each other all summer for this privilege. A series of playoff games among eight teams whittled the list down to two, Wall2Wall Blue and Redd's Diamonds.
For those of you living in the 'burbs, let me clue you in. These are great kids. Thanks to the Wall2Wall Urban Youth Organization, they spent nearly every weekend this summer surrounded by people who love them, doing something they enjoy, and learning the valuable lessons taught by good sportsmanship.
I learned, too. Allentown's inner city residents are wonderful people, from old men killing me at chess (they cheat), to seven-year old girls showering kisses and attention weekly on my grandson's crazy dog.
"We do it for the love," is what one Wall2Wall organizer told me. And they do. These guys know everyone by name, and give the kids friendly advice on everything, from double-dribbling to how to handle irate parents. Wall2Wall organizers even officiate, and easily deflate rowdy fans with humor.
If there is any group that deserves grants from state and local communities, it's Wall2Wall. Amazingly, these folks are only now forming a nonprofit. You see, they have their priorities right. They obviously consider kids before thinking of themselves. Properties of Merit and many other goofy nonprofits could learn a few things from this crew.
Yesterday's game was nip and tuck, with the lead changing constantly. When the dust finally had settled, Redd's Diamonds came out on top, 30 to 29. And that's a fitting tribute to their coach, Brittany Kholi. She still attends Dieruff High School, but I've never seen a youth sports coach better than her.
And I've never seen a youth sports program better than Wall2Wall. They bring out the best in Allentown. Come to think of it, they bring out the best in the Lehigh Valley.
23 comments:
Nice post, Ohare.
you prompted me to do a post.
I wish there was more of this in the Valley. If I ever make it to becoming a teacher, I would love to organize stuff like this!
very nice post, it's heartwarming to know good people are out there with our youth. thanks for sharing
LVDem, That's a rare treat for us all. I'll update my post to reflect your own blog.
Anon 12:32,
No thanks are due to me. But the people who run Wall2Wall are special. I have a two names and addresses.
Chuck Rockmore: Chuckrock_wall2wall@yahoo.com
Jonafer McDonald:
Holla-6@verizon.net
I'll have more details about their group in a few weeks.
AJ,
I was tormenting them. I started w/ "What's 1 + 1?" and then kept doubling it. Unfortunately, the little bastards know math better than me so I tied their sneakers together.
Just as one rarely reads of the plane that didn't crash, the celebrity who didn't get arrested, and the politician who didn't lie, one rarely reads of the kids who didn't get into trouble, and the adults and young adults who took the time to care. It's refreshing that this story is told anywhere; it's a credit to this site that it's told here.
Alexis!
I'm glad I was able to tell this story.
"I was tormenting them."
There's the miserable bastard we all know!
never read about this stuff in the newspapers
Anon 10:07 -
That's because happy stuff rarely sells.
The first article I ever had published in The Express-Times was about two boyscouts obtaining the rank of Eagle.
Where did this public intrest piece get published, you ask?
Directly next to the Obituaries!
It's not that people don't care - they're just not interested.
Kudos to Bernie! Hip-Hip, huh?
Wall 2 Wall U.Y.O. is a non-profit organization developed to give kids a positive opportunity to better themselves through sports. We believe sports give kids a positive outlook which they can use towards their life choices in the future. We stress the importance of academics, sportsmanship and teamwork.
Wall 2 Wall U.Y.O. targets children ages 5-18 in the Allentown community. Wall 2 Wall U.Y.O. has serviced approximately 500+ children in the Allentown community within the past 2 years. With the tremendous amounts of crime in our area, we use our sports and mentoring programs to improve the equity and quality of our young people, which will eventually be at the forefront of the Allentown community.
Statistics have shown that in Allentown, violent crime and property damage have risen tremendously in the past 5 years. Crimes such as murder, drug-dealing, criminal mischief, robbery, burglary, and theft have also grown enormous amounts in excess of 15-20% and usually involve children in the 12-18 years of age demographic. Studies have shown that a lot of this crime has occurred between the hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. With that in mind, Wall 2 Wall intends to give the children of Allentown City the opportunity to put their efforts and attention towards positive outlets such as sports and community service during these hours through our summer program at Roosevelt Park. We strive to improve the mindset of Allentown youths, by teaching them that there are other outlets besides the streets such as college and the workforce. We intend to prepare these youths with the tools that will help them become productive members of society as adults instead of a life of delinquency.
look us up @ myspace.com/wall2walluyo
WALL2WALL HAVE HEARTS OF GOLD, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree completely with Jess. Hearts of gold.
nice post! ... oh yeah & i'm looking foward to holding down that coaching championship next summer =]
-- Coach Brit
Coach Brit,
Congrats on the championship and on a terrific job as a coach. You taught those young men a lot, not just about the sport, but how to handle pressure. And they had such fun while they were doing it! I'm very glad to hear you'll be back bc you have a real knack with those kids, and that's something no one can treach you.
Anon 1:09, If you get a chance, shoot that link at us again. The one you provided is not working.
Real nice pics. I noticed several parents holding team photos right after the games... Hype photos... who did this work? Where can I get those pics?
Anon 10:44,
That's something I should have mentioned. Instead of those formal team pics that you wait weeks to see, this guy was on the scene w/ his digital camera, snapping pics, including the two in my post. After taking the picture, he'd print out a copy right on the scene, pop it into a frame, and sell it for peanuts. His name is Phill "Yak" Gross, and you can reach him at 484-221-1358. He runs his camera work right out of his PT Cruiser. Pretty cool. And he gave me permission to post them here.
Hit wall2wall uyo @ www.myspace.com/113440185
We should do better job of protecting our children!
My child was interested in joining the Wall 2 Wall organization to play with his friends. After doing a check on the group and its founder, I said no way. Chuck Rockmore has an arrest record as long as Shaq's arm and mind you, he was busted for a pound of marijuana over a year ago.
The core ideas of the program are good, but they are not being implemented.
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