More Hoops in More Hoods

While B-Ball on the Block is taking Little Village by storm, Back of the Yards is also getting in on the basketball action. Over at the Neighborhood Sports Chicago web site, Cristobal Martinez has a report with photos from last Friday night's action at 48th and Marshfield. This is the first year Back of the Yards has had a full-scale Hoops in the Hood Friday night basketball league with food, fun and introductions to service agencies visiting different blocks all summer long.

Speaking as a neighborhood resident, I'm delighted to see this getting off the ground in Back of the Yards. I was out there myself last Friday night and can say firsthand that it was a lot of fun and clearly a new experience for kids and families. Many of the kids couldn't believe they could just go up and get a hot dog, an icie or a bag of popcorn for free. Neighbors not just from the target block but from a three-block radius stopped by. Some of the kids on my own block played for a team sponsored by the UNION Impact Center. Part of the point of the effort is to bridge the various divisions of the neighborhood--race, ethnicity, language, gang territories--and I'm very proud that my neighbors on the UNION Impact team were part of one of the few where a diverse group of kids were playing on the same team.

In recent years the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council has gone through some transition in leadership and focus, and "Hoops" is helping the council raise its profile in the neighborhood in a new and positive way. Martinez's story quoted BYNC executive director Craig Chico giving a key stat to measure the impact to date: "If you want to measure our success with a number, we've served over 600 hot dogs each week."

Want the Story Right? Do It Yourself

The Tribune ran a nice story by Jon Davis this morning about Spring Into Sports, noting that the program kept 1,500 students busy – and out of trouble – during spring break.

But you can't please everyone. Earnest Gates, one of the event's organizers and executive director of the Near West Side Community Development Corporation, thought Davis missed the bigger point: that the finals took place at Crane Technical Prep High School, 2245 W. Jackson Blvd., just 13 months after student Ruben Ivy was killed at the school.

Here's Gates' email: "They didn't talk about Crane hosting the finals and having this diverse group of young people from across the city competing in a healthy environment. No fights no arguments just fun and a competitive spirit. Crane has received a bad rap because of the young men who were slain near the school last year. The finals marked a turning point in the perception of the school."

He's right. Last month we ran a story on newcommunities.org about how Crane has become a "safe haven" in the neighborhood, and I saw for myself on Saturday that under new Principal Richard Smith, the school is a different place than it used to be.

But with the Tribune cutting another 20 percent of its already gutted staff, and the Sun-Times bankrupt, we can't look anymore to the big media to tell these stories. If we want to get the word out about something going on in the neighborhoods, we're going to have to do it ourselves.

Let's see, that would be . . . 215,000 words

It's an old adage because it's true: a good photo is worth even more than a thousand words because it can deliver emotions and color that writers just can't manage. So I'm thrilled that we were able to implement a photo-centric approach to covering the Spring Into Sports events last week. We wrote some decent stories, too, but it's the work of photographers Alex Fledderjohn, Juan Francisco Hernandez and Eric Young Smith that conveys the sweat and glory of the youthful activities, which incidentally engaged 1,500 youth throughout the Chicago Public School spring break.

We uploaded 215 of the best photos to Flickr in 15 different sets and then embedded the slideshows in stories on the Neighborhood Sports Chicago web site. Here's one set below, from Saturday's finals, by Eric Young Smith. Find the rest at the sports site or on LISC/Chicago's Flickr page.

One-Minute Video Packs a Lot of Punch

If it's looking like "all sports, all the time" on this blog lately that's only because I've been contributing to a flat-out effort by LISC/Chicago and its neighborhood partners to attract youth to Spring Into Sports activities at four high schools.

And it's working.

More than 1,270 students have registered and they're filling the gyms and hallways every day. What's startling about it is how much they're getting into the various sports on offer, including some they've probably never participated in, such as archery, table tennis and rowing. Read all about it at Neighborhood Sports Chicago.

Or take a minute to view this new piece by Sarahmaria Gomez and Alex Fledderjohn at TuMultimedia.


Spring Into Sports Spring Break Chicago from Tu Multimedia on Vimeo.

What They're Saying at Spring Into Sports

In the news biz you listen for "good quotes." During the first days of Spring Into Sports, the drop-in-for-fun-and-competition festival going on during spring break in four violence-prone neighborhoods, I've been getting an earful.

"They feel like superstars." That was longtime activist Jenice Sanders at Englewood High School after Sunday's opening ceremony, with 200 in the stands, that featured the Imani African Dance and Drum Troupe (photo) and her own creation, Englewood Idols, the talented local singers who had made the cut down to 14 finalists.

"That was awesome." A child at Little Village Lawndale High School after time in the pool.

"They act at first like they're too cool to play volleyball, but once they get started their competitive juices kick in." That was Oji Eggleston at Crane Tech Prep, talking about the b-ball players who got serious at the volleyball net.

I counted about 155 kids and adults at Crane on Monday afternoon in the two gyms, hallways and food room. It was more than just a good natured and safe environment. There and at the other venues the youth were not just learning new athletic skills but social ones as well, from taking on something they hadn't done before to interacting with other youth and adults. Even the teenagers sitting in the stands, waiting and watching, that looked good to me too.

Top photo of Orr High School participants by Juan Francisco Hernandez. More photos here.

Video: Why Kids Enjoy Neighborhood Sports

A lot of community agencies and sports programs have been working flat out preparing for Spring Into Sports, which runs April 4 to 11 at four Chicago high schools (Crane, Little Village Lawndale, Englewood and Orr). Learn more at Neighborhood Sports Chicago, but first, take five minutes to view this video fresh from the smoking-hot computers of Sarahmaria Gomez and Alex Fledderjohn of TuMultimedia.

It will make you feel good, I guarantee it.

(If this video doesn't feed well for you, try the YouTube version.)


Neighborhood Sports Chicago! from Tu Multimedia on Vimeo.

One day late, sports web site goes live

Darn it! If you're going to set a deadline for something, and then go public with your plan as I did in an earlier post, it's nice to actually meet the deadline. Which I did not.

Even so, the new web site for Neighborhood Sports Chicago went live this morning, just one day behind schedule.

The site already includes a whole lot of information on how organizations are using sports for youth development and community development. In the next four weeks it will provide regular updates on preparations for the Spring Into Sports extravaganza from April 4 to 11. That's during the Chicago Public Schools spring break, and hundreds of kids each day are expected to participate in competitions, demonstrations and open swim at the four host venues: Crane Technical Prep High School, Englewood High School (not confirmed), Little Village Lawndale High School and Orr Academy High School.

This is the real thing when it comes to youth programming: very impressive work by the hosting organizations and partners. We hope the web site will bring attention to this work that engages youth while creating stronger individuals and stronger neighborhoods.

Build Web Site in 12 Days? Yes We Can

With Spring into Sports just six weeks away and dozens of neighborhood organizations and school programs mobilizing youth to participate, a solid communications platform is a must.

That means a web site, of course, to provide background on participating organizations, contact info, videos about neighborhood sports and fitness programs, a calendar of events, plenty of photos and, as the April 4-11 extravaganza unfolds, standings and other statistics so we can follow how the teams and players are doing.

Can the web site for Neighborhood Sports Chicago be built in 12 days, so that it is up and running a month before the big week?

Yes it can. (We think.)

We're using the Grassroots template that Webitects, Inc. donated to the cause (thanks Paul). It has all the capabilities we need except for an easy way to load and update sports statistics (but we're working on that). We gained access to the totally blank site on Thursday and started putting up content: program outlines, existing sports stories from partner web sites, embedded videos, partner lists and of course, "About Us."

Anyone who has built a web site knows that shaping content, deciding where it goes, finding good photos and fine-tuning the whole thing can take two months, six months, even longer. But this is a proven template that we've worked with before, and we've got a strong team creating material on the fly.

We'll launch by Monday, March 2. Check back that day for the link.

Big Year for Youth Sports in Chicago

Hold onto your hat if you're a believer in engaging youth in sports as a community-building activity. This spring and summer we'll see the biggest, most organized youth sports effort in recent years, or maybe ever.

LISC/Chicago's multi-year commitment to building up youth sports has gotten a big boost via a new grant from the 2016 Fund for Chicago Neighborhoods. Details of the programming are still being worked out, but watch for:

• A week-long Spring into Sports event at four neighborhood locations from April 4 to 11, to coincide with Chicago Public Schools' spring break and the site visit from the International Olympic Committee. (See Chicago bid book.)
  

• A summer-long calendar of tournaments, track events, sports demos, skill-building activities and, of course, the Hoops in the Hood championships (2008 photo above by Eric Young Smith).

LISC's Keri Blackwell says all New Communities Program neighborhoods will be involved in Spring into Sports at locations in Little Village, Englewood, Humboldt Park and the Near West Side. There will be competitions in six sports (archery, badminton, basketball, table tennis, track and field, and volleyball); skills challenges in multiple sports; and demonstrations by professionals and amateurs in sports such as boxing, gymnastics, fencing and martial arts.

World Sport Chicago will be bringing volunteer coaches and pro athletes into the mix and connecting them up with youth organizations, schools or leagues. The Chicago Park District will be another big partner.

Stay tuned for more details here and on the New Communities Program web site.

Youth Sports--and Sportswriters

Curie's not the only place where we're starting a great partnership with young people telling their stories. Over in Little Village, young athletes with Beyond the Ball have already put together a five-minute video showing how their so-called open gym at Little Village/Lawndale High School works. Watch the video and you'll see it's a lot more structured than the typical open gym:



Beyond the Ball founder Rob Castaneda says some of the players have formed a team off the court to keep stats and document games and programs for the organization's web site. This video is their first production. They are eager to explore lots of media: interviews, web stories, and photos as well as more video. We look forward to seeing more of their work!

Not to be missed: Hoops in the Hood Finals

A terrific example of community development in action will be on display this Saturday afternoon at Seward Park in Chicago (401 W. Division at Orleans) when youth and adults from seven neighborhoods come together for the 2008 Hoops in the Hood Cross-City Finals, a basketball program that is about so much more than sports.

Hoops is a direct response to violence on the streets of our city. It is a structured, well-organized way to engage local kids and young adults in a safe and nurturing environment, on the very streets where they might feel unsafe at other times or under different circumstances. The Resurrection Project in Pilsen started its Friday night basketball league 10 years ago, setting up courts on different blocks each week, and in the past two years the concept has spread to a network of seven neighborhoods.

Teams will fight it out for trophies after an opening ceremony at 1 p.m., with the first-round games at 1:30 in three divisions: peewee (ages 8 to 10), minor (11 to 14) and major (15 to 19). Semi-final and final rounds will be followed by the championship game at 4 p.m.

About 400 participants will come from West Haven, Little Village, Pilsen, North Lawndale, Humboldt Park, Englewood and Logan Square. There'll be food, arts and crafts, and plenty of good feeling as kids and adults come together from across gang lines, neighborhoods and cultures. The Chicago Police Department is a key partner across all the leagues and will be on the scene as usual.

The photos here are from last year's tournament and were taken by Juan Francisco Hernandez; the video below, by Sarahmaria Gomez and Alex Fledderjohn of TuMultimedia, gives a great overview of what the league is all about. (View a higher quality version here.)