It may be April now but we can’t help reminiscing on March and all the fantastic basketball we were able to watch during this year’s March Madness tournament. 136 teams represented their colleges and universities represented in the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament. This premier collegiate basketball event provides a platform to each educational institution to showcase both their athletic achievements as well as broadcast their brand across the country. As college basketball games dominate cable networks and streaming platforms during the month of March, we decided to bring March Madness into our own daily programming in order to increase college awareness among our students! At Bedford Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter School (BSNBCS) and Corpus Christi School. Kids in the Game celebrated March Madness by hosting a “College and Career Week.”

During the week of March 19th, eight guest speakers from various academic and career backgrounds spoke to the students of BSNBCS and Corpus Christi. Each speaker discussed their collegiate experience and career journey, leading them to offer their best advice and tips to the curious and ambitions young scholars. Check out a few highlights from the speakers below!

Hon. Richard Clinchy- Westchester Town Councilman, High School Teacher, College Basketball Coach, High School Basketball Coach, Motivational Speaker.

Coach Clinchy spoke of his time playing baseball both at Hobart University and professionally. He discussed the supreme importance of education, his role as a teacher and coach, and offered advice on how to get recruited by a college coach. After asking students to think of their intrinsic motivation, he stressed each scholar to truly believe in their ability to succeed in whatever they may be passionate about – sports, art, theater, science. Finally, all students were gifted with a t-shirt with a quote from Duke University coach, Coach K, “Always Do Your Best!”

Tatum Boehnke – Director of Community and Impact for Kids in the Game. NCAA Division One Swimmer and Swimming Coach.

Tatum spoke of her development as a swimmer and her determination to set the for swimming across the English Channel! Connecting her swimming with her education, she credits her success in both endeavors to positive goal-setting, having a strong support system, and her internal determination and belief in herself. A graduate of Northern Colorado State University, Tatum transitioned to collegiate swimming coach and working in athletic admissions at her Alma matter. As she loved to help her athletes, Tatum pursued her passion of helping those around her by joining KING as the Director of Community and Impact!

Will McKinney – Associate Director of Marketing, Urban Catalog at Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment

Will is an extremely successful marketing director in the music production industry tasked with working with top artists to select hit singles and figure out how to properly market each song to reach a widespread audience using a variety of platforms. Will enthralled the students of BSNBCS with his stories of working with SZA, Wyclef John, Whitney Houston, Tribe Called Quest, Beyonce’s marketing team, Travis Scott, and Bryson Tiller. A graduate of Belmont University, he offered advice to our students on the benefit of growing up in NYC – a cultural music hub with a multitude of music industry resources available to all students.

Dan Bradley – Senior Producer, Director of Video, Sports at VICE.

Produced sports documentaries with Steph Curry, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, Marshawn Lynch
Dan, a Syracuse University alumni, gave a multi-media presentation that interwove his various sports documentaries with each part of his professional development. Starting off with a Steph Curry and Under Armour commercial he directed, he spoke of starting his own production company with two friends as they combined their resources and worked day and night to find success. Next was a series produced with Carmelo Anthony, highlighting a high school soccer team in Manhattan. Dan spoke about creating VICE Sports and his continued focus on finding the cross-section of sports and culture, all packaged in a unique story. After a clip of the world’s best female rock climber, a teenager from NYC, Dan offered tangible advice for those interested in creating videos and digital storytelling. iPhones, YouTube, creativity, and finding a unique angle will lead young creators down a path of success.

Paul O’Connor, our director of KING Hoops program, recently attended the Jr. Knicks Youth Basketball Leadership conference. The event had the likes of Allan Houston, Kym Winter, Tiffany Chag, Don Showalter among other leaders in the basketball world. Topics ranged from how to keep athletes safe and the benefits of raising multi-sport athletes. Coach Paul came away from the event with a breadth of knowledge but also knowing that there is still a ton of work to do in the youth basketball arena. Here are some thoughts and questions Coach Paul had on the event and where basketball is headed for kids growing up in New York City.

At the Jr. Knicks event there was one question raised that stuck with me… How can organizations like the Jr. Knicks and USA Basketball have a greater effect on youth basketball?

The question alone doesn’t seem complicated. But as we all know or grow to learn, nothing about youth sports in New York City is uncomplicated. Between a seemingly unlimited market and “coaches” on every corner, navigating the youth basketball scene can be tough. I see two main issues that arise and that the Jr. Knicks and USA Basketball can have a hand in improving.

Issue #1 — Players jumping from team to team throughout the year.

I have seen kids in the 6th grade play for 3+ AAU teams in one season. I don’t see this to be in the child’s benefit. First off, the player simply cannot commit to 3+ programs and make all practices/games/etc. This also leads to distrust amongst the other players on the team. The players who are committed to one team start to learn how to play together and don’t gel with the players who are in and out. As a coach and director, it makes it very hard to teach them your beliefs, techniques, and overall organization mission. The biggest problem in my opinion is the lack of ability to keep players accountable. If a coach disciplines a player and that player doesn’t like it they can simply go play for another team the next day. This is a dangerous lesson that will hurt our children in the long run.

Solution — Adopt the GEVA Volleyball rules for committing to a program, see here:

USA Volleyball prohibits player transfers from club to club, which is necessary to protect players, their teammates, and their clubs. In choosing a club, carefully consider your goals with potential clubs’ emphasis on elite teams versus developmental, teams offered, cost, practice quantity and quality, number of coaches and their qualifications, distance to tournaments, length of the season, playing time, and tournament schedule.

Tryouts are during the same time period for volleyball — Please remember that once you have made a binding commitment to a club, you are committed to them for the season. They have reserved a spot on a team (possibly turning away another athlete) and you have committed to meeting your obligations per the club’s offer letter. Failure to meet a contractually obligated financial commitment to a club will mean that you can’t register to play for any USAV club the following season(s).

Implementing this would completely solve the issue of playing for multiple teams and help organizations and the kids we serve tremendously. It would raise accountability of our kids, parents, coaches and administrators.

Issue #2 — Anyone is a qualified coach.

This topic was raised by Don Showalter at the event and he made a great point. The term “Coach” is sacred and means a great deal. With the rise in social media and organizations popping up in every gym, almost anyone can be called coach nowadays. There is no standardized process that people have to go through to become a coach, making the difference in the level of coaching from organization to organization easily visible if you attend AAU tournaments. Don compared it to other industries, mentioning that they all have processes, standards, protocol. Why would basketball be any different? To become anything of significance is strenuous and includes multiple steps, something that coaching should not lack. USA Basketball offers an online course to become certified but even that is not enough. This is where organizations like Jr. NBA, Jr. Knicks, USA Basketball need to come together and create standards and requirements that coaches and organizations would need to meet in order to become certified.

Improvements do not happen over night and I would certainly like to continue this discussion with NYC youth basketball organizations and coaches to see how we can try and improve our players experiences.

To check out Coach Paul and KING Hoops in action at our Tuesday Night Middle School Clinics. Workouts are held from 6-7:15pm at Corpus Christi School 533 W. 121st St. New York, NY 10027 and our $15 per session or $100 for the remaining 7 sessions. Register here!

Anytime a parent, school or organization asks us what makes us different than other companies in our field, the same answer always comes to mind first: our awesome staff. Each month we take the time to honor a Coach of the Month and we want to share a few fun facts about November’s pick.

Hector was awarded November coach of the month by a landslide vote by his peers and our senior team. Hector began his KING journey through the Young Adult Internship Program (YAIP). This program provides job-ready 16-24 year-old young adults who are currently not employed or in school, placement into a short-term internship opportunity. Funded through the Mayor’s Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO), the program offers 14 weeks of paid orientation, training and work followed by 9 months of follow-up services and assistance for placement in permanent jobs, training programs and educational opportunities. Hector successfully completed his internship and has been with KING ever since taking on various roles and levels of responsibility including summer camp counselor, after-school leader and basketball coach. In January Hector will continue to grow with KING through the Up2Us Sports Coaches program.

As good a person as he is coach, let’s learn some more about Coach Hector!

What is one word you would use to describe yourself as a child?
A. Easy, adventurous.

If you were to tell one person “Thank You” for helping you become the person you are today, who would it be and why?
A. Also easy, Coach Tracey. He has mentored me over the past year and has taught me how to be a better leader, teammate and coach.

What movie or novel character do you most identify with?
I identify with the character “Zero” from the novel and film Holes. What I find the most interesting about Zero is how he is always underestimated. He has never been to school, but has great mathematical intelligence. I, like Zero, like to prove to people that where you come from doesn’t have to determine where you are going.

Fill in the blank: If you really knew me, you’d know_____

My favorite football team is the New York Jets. I am a very passionate fan of my football team even though sometimes it is not easy being at Jets fan! I practically watched my team lose in every embarrassing way possible week after week. However, I still choose to be loyal and root for them every Sunday. J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets!

If you were to start a company from scratch, what values would you build it on?
I believe core values for any business to succeed is solid teamwork and strong leadership. Good communications skills are another value that is very important to satisfy the customers.

What is one memory do you treasure the most?
Going to my very first NBA game with my father! He surprised me with tickets, and it was a game that I will never forget!

What super power would you like to have?
The super power I would like to have is teleportation. I would be able to travel the world in the snap of a finger.

Big congratulations to Coach Hector and stay tuned for next month’s Coach of the Month!

King Elite Youth Basketball Tryouts

We are holding 10U, 12U, and 14U team tryouts. (Ages 9-14 are welcome to join us!) The program will be under the direction of Michael Murphy, former NCAA Division I Coach at Columbia University. The cost per tryout is $10.

 
Tryout Dates:

• March 11th, 25 Greenwich St., 6-7:30pm
• March 13th, 229 E 112th St., 3-4:30pm
• March 16th, 535 W 121st St., 6-7:30pm
• March 18th, 25 Greenwich St., 6-7:30pm
• March 20th, 229 E 112th St., 3-4:30pm

FAQs:

• 1 tryout is required; 2 are recommended
• Cost of the team will depend on final numbers; estimate is $1000-$1300 for the season, which includes:
  • Weekly practices
  • Weekly optional workouts
  • 4 tournaments (April / May)
  • Reversible jerseys / game jerseys
• $300 deposit is required to accept invitation to join the team; 2 other payments due on April 1st and May 1st
• Approximately 10 players on each team

For more information, email us at info@kidsinthegame.com or call (212) 634-7262.