2020 brought various programming challenges at Kids in the Game, and especially to KING Hoops, our competitive basketball team. During the height of the pandemic we needed to make sure we were still providing the same quality services for our student-athletes’ who were adjusting to attending school online and being stuck inside for months. 

We continued our typical services over the summer and into the fall through virtual check-ins with all 71 of our KING Hoops players on both academic progress, but also mental health and future planning. We were also able to host small group sessions in our office space for our players that were struggling academically and needed 1:1 tutoring. This allowed us to keep in touch with our student-athletes, offer the support needed, as well as prepare for a safe and successful spring season. 

This past Spring we were ecstatic to be able to bring our KING Hoops program back in person. We held tryouts the first week of March following the CDC’s guidelines and assembled our 13U, 14U, 15U, 16U, and 17U teams. Collectively our program was composed of 82% returners, a big accomplishment after not being able to have a season the previous year. Practices started up in March and ran smoothly into late July thanks to a partnership with Leman Manhattan Preparatory School. 

We had a very successful AAU season achieving a program best 67-25 record! We also brought home a total of seven tournament championships. It was also a special year for our 14U team who joined the Under Armour Rise Circuit. With a winning record in all UAA tournaments they definitely proved they belonged on a national stage.

The Heisman Trophy Trust

One of the fundamental goals of Kids in the Game is to reduce inequities among NYC young people in access to: youth sports, classroom and out-of-school educational opportunities, college and/or other career training. Our Heisman project is an expression of our commitment to reducing inequities. Heisman returned in person this past Spring. We provide academic support, college preparation, and career readiness programming to all 71 of our KING Hoops players. Due to health and safety protocols, we were unable to utilize in person volunteers or outside tutoring services during our Spring session, but rather staffed the program with 3 full time team members. 

Program Highlights: 

• All 71 student-athletes maintained GPA and attendance standards for the spring seasons
• 100% of our senior student-athletes graduated high school and are heading to college or universities in the fall
• 96% of our student-athletes made gains in at least one core SEL capacity (Contribution, Positive Identity, Self-Management, Academic Self-Efficacy, Social Skills)
• 91% of our student-athletes that began the year with low capacity in positive identity made gains
• 96% of our student-athletes felt they could share their thoughts and opinions and they were valued by the adults and coaches
• 89% of our student-athletes felt a sense of team and or group identity
• 88% felt that they were able to envision their future

Youth Leadership Council

Here at Kids in the Game we value program feedback, especially from the youth participating and benefitting from our programs. This summer we launched our Youth Leadership Council which was created so that all our student-athletes and program participants can express their thoughts and ideas and have a voice in program decision-making. Our council will meet routinely and will provide a feedback loop for our program directors. They also will work on various projects and initiatives having to do with programming. 

We have partnered with Athletes for Hope who will provide and match both college and professional athletes for our council meetings. For our first meeting in July we were joined by Jazmine Fray, an Under Armour professional track athlete. Jazmine discussed the challenges that come along with being a college athlete, the importance of mental health, and discussed the importance of teamwork and being a part of a team. During this specific meeting we had our Youth Council work on compromise, teamwork, and communication skills in a jersey design workshop. Our council then started on a four-month project where they will be developing a business model. Each session we will have a guest speaker whether an athlete or entrepreneur to help them create their desired business. 

Overall, it was a successful Spring for our KING Hoops program. Our players loved being back together face-to-face, and it was great for them to receive the support from our Heisman program. Currently all of our KING Hoops teams are participating in the Positive Influence Summer League. We are excited for KING Hoops to enter their fall league, as well as for school and Heisman to begin again in the fall. 

Our KING Hoops basketball program had the opportunity to participate in the UBS NextGen Leaders program through our good friends over at Laureus USA. The NextGen Leaders program aims to increase college and career success for first-generation students and advance intergenerational economic mobility through bachelor’s degree attainment.

Our kids were put through the Hire Power curriculum that guided them through the power of storytelling, particularly in the interview process. By using this curriculum, our kids with the UBS volunteers practiced their communication skills and developed a strong portfolio of stories appropriate for a workplace setting. The players then got the chance to practice their storytelling in both a group setting and in mock interviews.

KING Hoops and all our Kids in the Game programs value inclusivity and diversity amongst our kids. By nature of growing up in New York City, all our kids have unique stories to tell, and as they are beginning their college and first job application processes, this event was the perfect exercise to refine their communication skills without losing their unique story.

Big thank you to Laureus for allowing our guys to participate in the great event put on by UBS. These are the types of events that help our basketball program stand out from the others in the NYC scene.

What: Jr. NBA Skills Challenge
Who: Boys and Girls, age 13 and under
Where: Leman Manhattan – 41 Broad St. 9th Floor
Cost: FREE
Sign-up: Email Paul@kidsinthegame.com or come to event 30 minutes prior to start

Do you have the moves like Steph Curry? Can you handle the ball like Maya Moore? Good. Come show us! KING Hoops is excited to host their Jr. NBA Skills Challenge Event February 17th at The Franciscan Community Center. The event will take place from 1:30pm to 3:00pm and is open to boys and girls 13 years and younger. Oh, and did I mention it was free? Yes, free! Boys and girls will compete is separate divisions (14U and 12U) and showcase their ball handling and shooting skills.

To see the official rules click here

From this local competition the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners will advance to the regional competition with a chance to advance to the national competition in June.

Finalists for the national competition win an all-expense paid trip to New York City, receive gift bags, attend special events, interact with NBA/WNBA/D-League Players, Legends, & Draftees, and attend the 2017 NBA Draft.

Questions? Email KING Hoops Basketball Director at Paul@kidsinthegame.com

Kids in the Game is excited to announce the launch of our brand new podcast “Behind the Game”! The podcast will cover the intersection of youth development, sports, education, and technology in the New York City landscape. You will be hearing from the likes of principals, executive directors, coaches, teachers, and other change makers that are all working towards building a better city for our youth. With more than 1 million students in New York City, we want to help families, schools, and organizations learn to navigate the complex ecosystem we live and breath.

Last week we recorded our very first podcast with guest Ben Schornack. Ben got his start on the world of NYC youth development with Kids in the Game as our very first program coordinator. Since then he has been with Up2Us Sports and is currently a program manager with the Laureus Sport for Good USA Foundation. Laureus recently launched it’s Sport for Good NYC initiative — a long-term commitment to improving the lives of underserved youth in the five boroughs of New York City through the power of sport. The initiative will bring together nonprofit leaders by providing resources and facilitating collaboration. Ben mentions in the podcast that New York is full of organizations doing great work, but it is also full of funders and by working together we can tap into more funding sources to improve and provide even more programming. KING’s Wilson Rose is sitting on the leadership team for the initiative and we are excited to work with Laureus and Ben on this project.

Throughout the podcast, led by KING Hoops Director Paul O’Connor and KING Founder Michael Murphy, Ben details the changes he has seen in funding youth sport programs and the direction the industry is headed. The group also spends time talking about coaches that have impacted them and how important the role of a coach is. The podcast ends with a lightening round of questions and more Iowa basketball trivia than you ever thought you would need to know! Check out the link to listen and subscribe as we continue to bring leaders in the community onto “Behind the Game”!

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!

It isn’t easy to summarize a year at Kids in the Game – there are so many small victories that go unseen with the children we work with. Measuring confidence, friendships, perseverance, and just plain fun are not always possible. However, we close out 2017 knowing that those are the wins that we are most proud of. Our organization’s purpose is to change the way New York City children are growing up and this year was a huge step towards reaching our goals. Reading through our 2015 and 2016 reviews, we continue to make tremendous progress and find ourselves more and more excited about what is yet to come. Here are some of the highlights from the year and what you can expect to see from KING in 2018:

1. We continue to expand and serve more schools and families across Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx – we worked with over 16,000 children this year across summer camps, school programming, and our travel teams. Our team has approached ~100 talented coaches, yet we still feel like a family in our approach.

2. We had our best summer yet! Our 4 summer camps served ~700 families from June to August as we continued to add new and creative programming for the kids. We had an emphasis on improving our swimming program, adding lessons and better facilities. There was also more interaction between our camps, as we had days that our older camps went to other sites to meet new friends and have some healthy competition. We had fun building out our theme weeks (ie Camp Olympics, Through the Decades, Spirit Week, Superhero Week, etc) and have some creative ideas for 2018 in the works. Our newest location was opened in Park Slope, and look forward to announcing our 5th location for 2018 here shortly!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvGsjrPjuiI

3. Although we have a team full of active, energetic, sports lovers, we also consciously opened our mind in 2017 to how technology can enhance what we do. We grew our partnership with CodingKidz, providing after-school and summer camp programs in Robotics, Coding, and Video Game Design, as well as made November ‘Sports Technology’ month across all our schools. Our kids collectively walked to Australia in November (measured by our Fitbits), we had SportsTechie cover our Virtual Reality event at Corpus Christi School, and started meeting as a team to talk about other technology and innovation that will help engage more children and enhance our sports programs. It certainly won’t replace what we do at the core, but always looking for ways to improve!

4. Our travel teams continued to make us oh so proud. KING Hoops had 5 teams playing this fall between middle school and high school, with kids coming from many of our schools and communities we work in throughout the year. We won our first tournament this year in Connecticut, and almost all age groups made tournament runs more regularly. Winning isn’t everything, but we’re a competitive group! KING Spikes, our volleyball program, continued to grow and is primed for a big year in 2018. We launched KING Speed, our track and field program, led by Suzie Clinchy who joined our team this year. We are so proud of the programs we’ve run in schools (PS 188M, Blessed Sacrament, Rebecca School, Leman Manhattan) and of our kids that are starting to run in competitive meets around the city. We take a lot of pride in wearing KING on our jersey and the way our players represent us and continue to grow.

5. Furthering our mission to reach all children in NYC, our non-profit KING Kids has made tremendous progress in bridging the opportunity gap. In our first full year of operation, we were humbled by the amount of support and empathy people have for making sure all schools and families have access to positive coaches and opportunities to play sports. We built a junior board of talented young professionals that have helped us drive the movement and fundraise for scholarships and new programming. Our team hosted our first large fundraising event, a 3 on 3 tournament at St Francis, with over 20 teams. We ran our first corporate volunteer day with VML Foundation, donating sports equipment to 3 public schools across Harlem and the Bronx. We’ve added life skills workshops and academic support opportunities for all our travel teams. We built a website. Tons of good work, and the best part is that we are just getting started! So much to do in 2018 in our community and we appreciate everyone’s willingness to help our cause!

6. Not always apparent to our families or schools, but we have turned inward to make staff development and training a top priority as an organization. Both personal and professional development is a big part of working at KING, which ultimately helps us grow together and run better and better programs in the community. That will continue to be the case in 2018!

Our team continues to believe in the power of sports and positive coaching to help kids grow. Although not something we typically share with our following, our internal core values are what continues to drive our decision making and what we truly believe in while we work with youth. We wanted to share them with you below to give you some insight into what we are all about and our team’s daily focus as we continue strengthening our programs.

1. Radiate positivity and a family spirit
2. Lead by example through healthy habits
3. Embrace individual strengths and diverse backgrounds
4. Present solutions, not problems
5. Be resourceful and creative – do more with less
6. Constant pursuit of personal growth and learning
7. See the big picture
8. Be a world-class communicator
9. Work as a team, play as a team, grow as a team
10. Strive to always be the best part of our kids’ day

Thank you to everyone that has made 2017 such a year to remember. The support we get from principals, parents, coaches, partners, friends, and family is what keeps us energized and healthy. More to come from KING!

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!

As March comes to an end and brackets are thrown in the trash, it’s a good time for most teams to reflect on the past season. King Hoops teams began practicing in October, similar to most college teams and finished (much to our dismay) a little too early in March.

Our teams participated in the 55 Swish league at Basketball City this past year. Our kids were tested every week both mentally and physically. As a coaching staff, one of the our biggest challenges was getting our kids to play through adversity. At the start of the season, if we got down 8-10 points the attitude was very much, “that’s it, we’re losing, we’re going to lose…” and down went the effort level. We were constantly looking for new ways to keep our kids motivated and their heads in the game.

This is something I’ve seen a lot of especially with kids in middle school. Middle school competition levels begin to increase and this may be the first time some players aren’t the best ones on the court. This can be a challenging thing to deal with, especially mentally. Therefore, we like to instill confidence in our players in a variety of ways: verbally with positive language and encouragement or physically with high fives, hugs, and huddles. We value getting to know our players as individuals and recognizing what motivates them. If we can get a group of ten mentally strong players to click as one cohesive team we know a long March is in our future.

This past Saturday we finished our last tryout this past Saturday with a total of 84 kids in attendance! We have spent this week calling kids from all over the city to give them the good news that they are now KING Hoopers. It’s an exciting time for the King Hoops program and we look forward to a great Spring season with our teams.

If you have any questions about the KING Hoops programs please contact Paul O’Connor at paul@kidsinthegame.com

In the world of sports, improving is the name of the game. This goes for not only players but coaches as well. There is a reason why the best coaches are relevant year after year: they are constantly learning and adapting to the game. Kids in the Game is excited to partner with CHAMPS (Cooperative, Healthy, Active, Motivated and Positive Students) this March to provide free coaching clinics to middle school basketball coaches. The clinics will lead into an exciting 2017 Spring CHAMPS basketball season beginning in the end of March.

Coaches at participating CHAMPS programs are able to participate in the FREE clinics. The clinics will feature instructive lectures as well as on-the-court sessions. Participants will gain knowledge on many valuable topics, ranging from philosophy to X’s and O’s. Coaches will also gain experience on practice planning, game management and communication approaches. Additionally, strategies for working with kids with varying backgrounds and experiences will be an important component of the trainings as both CHAMPS and Kids in the Game work in diverse spaces.

Each participant of the coaching clinic will receive printed materials to reference during the clinic as well as to take home and implement during their own practices. Attendees should wear appropriate attire for active participation.

Registration is available on Eventbrite (registration is required). 3 dates are available and coaches are free to sign up for 1 date of their choice. Space is limited, so please sign up early!

1. Date: Saturday, March 11, 2017
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: M. S. 302 Luisa Dessus Cruz (8X302)
681 Kelly St. Bronx 10455
To register click here

2. Date: Saturday, March 18, 2017

Time: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m
Location: Hunters Point Community Middle School (30Q291)
1-50 51st. Ave. Queens 11101
To register click here

3. Date: Saturday, March 25
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m
Location: Ebbets Field Middle School (17K352)

46 McKeever Pl. Brooklyn 11225
To register click here

If you have any questions please feel free to email us at info@kidsinthegame or contact the CHAMPS coordinator Alan Semel at ASemel@schools.nyc.gov

From New York to California and everywhere in between we asked coaches of all levels to share what it means to be a coachable athlete. This compilation is a unique insight into what coaches want to see from their athletes beyond goals, points, and fast times. As an athlete, ask yourself… are you doing these things? What can you improve upon? And as a parent… are you encouraging these traits? Are you allowing your child to be coached?

Paul O’Connor- KING Hoops Coach/Director and Former DI Coach

“Being coachable to me is all about two things: not taking correction personally and the ability to take critical feedback and then directly applying that feedback into the game. It means being an extension of the coach on the court, being even keeled, never getting too high and never getting too low. To me being coachable is a simple as this Doc Rivers quote, “Good players want to be coached, great players want to be told the truth”.”

Wilson Rose- Kids in the Game Coach of Physical Literacy and School of the Blessed Sacrament Middle School Basketball Team

“Coach-ability at its core is the desire to learn. Working with youth in sports is most rewarding when an athlete learns how to take works and put then into actions. When young athletes show the innate passion for learning how their bodies work and accept the challenge of how to put coaching feedback into movements, coaches jobs are easy. The more malleable and curious the mind, the more coachable the athlete!”

Connor Gandossy- Current DI Baseball Coach – St. Louis University

“A coachable baseball is someone open to advice or criticism in order to develop their craft/skills. Sports are a forever adapting game, players must be sponges in order to better their careers.”

Tatum Boehnke – Former DI Swim Coach- Northern Colorado

“To me being a coachable athlete means no eye rolls, pouty lips or crossed arms. You may think that your coach can’t see these mannerisms or that they don’t matter, but believe me, they do. Body language is one of the easiest indications of which athletes are ready to listen, ready to learn, and ultimately ready to become a better athlete. Be careful of what your expressions and posture are saying because they often say more than words. Coachable athletes make eye contact and react with positive stance.”

Katherine Higuera-Mccoy- KING Spikes Head Volleyball Coach

“There is a big difference when you are “forced” to do a sport and don’t have the drive or passion for it. For my girls playing volleyball, coaching them is a pleasure and easier because they want to be there. They continue to ask questions and look for feedback. Most importantly these athletes try to find ways to improve in the sport. They are coachable athletes because of their positive attitudes and how they work actively together.”

Mats Boehnke – FIS Coach – Mammoth Mountain and USA Western Region Development Coach

“Ski racing, arguably, has the most peaks and valleys of any sport. Athletes can go from the top of the podium one day to literally crashing into a net the next. Some race runs feel fast but turn out to be slow while others feel awful and turn out to be super fast. It’s a mental roller-coaster that can discourage even the most mentally tough. Being a coachable athlete mens someone that can stay positive and even keeled despite the frustrations. An athlete works hard during the low times but harder during the high times. Most importantly, a coachable athlete means respecting the sports, dreaming of success and working as hard as you can to get “there.”

Alicen Fair – Elementary and Middle School Coach – ACES Swim Team

“So much of competitive swimming is centered around perfect technique. If you can commit to perfect technique during a hard practice, it will translate to more effective strokes. This ultimately leads to faster times at meets. To me, being a coachable athlete in the pool is putting effort into bettering your craft. It’s easy to get corrections from a coach but it is much harder to actually apply those corrections. When I see athletes putting in effort to better technique, I know they are a coachable athlete.”

When asked to describe the Bronx in three words Tracey Lewis, Kids in the Game Program Coordinator, thought for a couple minutes before saying, “needs more mentors”. From a non-New Yorker perspective, this answer didn’t surprise me. There is no lack in commentary of the “rough, lack of funding, lack of opportunity” side of New York’s most Northern borough. Unfortunately, often times we only hear that side of the story. Tracey is on a mission to write and tell another Bronx story.

Tracey was born and raised in the Bronx and is a The Bronx Wood School elementary school alum. He is currently leading Kids in the Game’s Bronx outreach program, traveling to elementary schools across the borough, educating principals on the Kids in the Game mission. For Tracey, giving kids the opportunity to be surrounded by positive influences is important; but furthermore, giving kids someone they can relate to in a positive way is vital. For that mission, Tracey is the gold standard.

From growing up in the Bronx, Tracey moved upstate to play point guard at Utica College. Although he described Utica as a “culture shock”, Tracey excelled both on the basketball court and in the classroom. He graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice and was accepted to the School Counseling Graduate program at Mercy College. To not stop there, Tracey was also a graduate assistant basketball coach at Mercy and has interned with the New York City Police Department. Oh and did I mention he also currently coaches the Cardinal Hayes High School basketball team?

To say he is a positive mentor is an understatement and that does not even include his roles with Kids in the Game. He currently is the After-School Program Director at Mount Carmel Holy Rosary, an elementary school within the Partnership Schools system. The Partnership Schools consists of six Catholic schools that aim to provide outstanding educations to low-income students. Working with this population Tracey has provided further structure and mentorship to these growing kids.

And because Kids in the Game nor Tracey take the summer off, you can find Tracey busy at our Inwood Summer Camp as the Assistant Director or planning drills for a KING Hoops practice.

He might not have a favorite sports team, restaurant, movie, TV show or any other basic questions I asked him, but what he does have is a passion for kids and sports. He told me that his quote “best day ever” is a day where all he does is coach kids and nothing else. Now I don’t have kids, but if I did, I can tell you, I would be first in line to have Coach Tracey be their coach, mentor, and friend.

KinG Hoops NYC, partnered with the Jr. NBA, will be hosting the Jr. NBA Skills Challenge.

This free event will take place this Saturday, April 30th, at 10:00am in the Leman Manhattan Preparatory School gymnasium, located at 25 Greenwich Street (between Morris and Battery Place).

Boys and girls ages 9-14 are welcome to show off their dribbling, shooting and rebounding skills. Finalists will receive  gift bags, have the chance to attend special events, interact with NBA/WNBA players, and attend the 2016 NBA Draft!