Greensboro moonlight basketballl

              GREENSBORO
What's more fun than hanging out on the
streets on Saturday nights? Moonlight Basketball!
Every Saturday night, up to 80 teenage boys
from the five largest public housing communities
board five GATE Transportation vans and come
to Hayes-Taylor YMCA. The boys, ages 13 to 18,
assemble in a large group and listen to
guest speakers who encourage the boys to
make goals, avoid crime, and build self-esteem. After the speaker, the boys split into
teams and rotate through three activities:
basketball, swimming, and the game room.
Around 12:30, the boys board the vans and
Moonlight Basketball teaches more
than just dribbling and shooting. Boys
learn to be teammates with boys from
different neighborhoods, to set goals, self-
discipline, and sportsmanship.
Most importantly, they benefit from
their association with positive men—with
coaches and guest speakers like Superior
Court Judge Steve Allen who tell them to
set goals, stay in school, and stay out of
trouble.
"We want to catch these boys at a crucial time in their lives, before they get into
real trouble," says YMCA President Joe
Warwick, founder of the program.
"Teenagers need to start planning for their
future. We want to challenge them to succeed."
Moonlight Basketball is made possible by a
collaborative partnership of the Greensboro
Housing Authority staff and resident council
presidents, Greensboro Police Department,
GATETransportation, YMCA, Guilford County
Schools, Salvation Army Boys and Girls Clubs,
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Moonlight Basketball Is modeled after the
Midnight Basketball program for 19- to 26-ycar-
olds in cities like Chicago and Nashville. In Nashville, crime decreased 22% during the program.
These programs aim to deter crime by providing
positive recreational experiences and relationships with positive role models.
The idea for Moonlight Basketball came from
Joe Wirwick while attending Mayor Nussbaum
and Police Chief Daughtry's community break-
last meel ings last summer. During the meetings,
several agency heads got excited about the idea
and formed a planning committee.
Staff and volunteers from the organizations
developed and raised funds for the program. The
Greensboro Housing Authority gave $15,100 to
the program, and the United Way gave $15,000
from Bryan Community Enrichment Venture
Grant Program funds. Several individuals have
also contributed to the project. The program has
raised a little over $30,000 toward a budget of
$80,000, and the group is pursuing funding from
private foundations.
The group hopes to fund the program to run
year-round keeping boys off tie street every
Saturday night, prime time for crime. There are
plans for adding field trips to a juvenile detention
center, a criminal sentencing, a prison, colleges
and vocational schools, and plant tours. Not only
docs the group want to prevent crime, but they
also want to promote education and career
preparation.
"Many limes a boy will get involved in a situation on the streets that he is not prepared to
handle," says Gayland Oliver, athletic director of
Hayes-Taylor YMCA.   "The best thing for the
Fall 1993
community to do is give kids positive things to do
with their free time — keep them away from those
bad influences." Gayland is living proof that hard
work and education pays off—he grew up in
public housing and today he Is a graduate of NC
A&T and is the Moonlight Basketball program
director.
Police participation is a major component of the program. "The Police
Department looks for opportunities to get
involved with the youth before they get into
trouble," says Chief Daughtry.
More than ten Police Neighborhood
Resource Center officers have been involved from the program's inception. Not
only do the police help recruit the boys,
they also come to the games to socialize
with the boys and monitor the activities.
"Keeping the boys involved in healthy activity keeps them out of trouble. As police
officers, we are concerned for their safety,
and we want to encourage them to stay out
of trouble and stay in school," says Corporal Andy Solomon of Hampton Homes'
PNRC.
"We want to give these boys every opportunity possible to develop a positive
self-image so they will achieve their goals,"
says Elaine Ostrowski, executive director
of Greensboro Housing Authority. We
feel this program will really help build skills
needed to achieve in this society."
The resident council presidents have been
supportive since the beginning. 'It took a lot of
planning, and now it has finally come
together. The parents are happy with the program, and we just want it to continue," says Carrie
McClenton, president of Ray Warren homes.
Coaches are very important to the program.
"If I can do something to help one of these kids in
life, I will have done my part. Coaches were a real
inspiration to me in high school, and their influence has stuck with me until the present day,"
says volunteer coach Reggie Foust."
Secretary of HUD, HenryCisneros, made the
point clear when he said "The choice is simple.
We can cither have our children shooting basketballs, or shooting each other." In Greensboro, we
choose basketball.