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Hoops in the Hood Citywide Finals demonstrates teamwork on and off the court

Address: Seward Park, 375 W Elm St., Chicago, IL

Hoops in the Hood Citywide Finals 2009 from Brent Michel on Vimeo.

Humboldt Park, North Lawndale, Logan Square, Englewood, Little Village and the Near West Side have participated in past Hoops in the Hood activities. With the addition of four new communities this year—Auburn Gresham, Back of the Yards, Chicago Lawn and East Garfield Park—the impact of Hoops in the Hood continues to increase significantly since it was conceived eleven years ago in Pilsen.

Alvaro Obregon, New Communities Program Director for The Resurrection Project, had a vision that included using basketball to bring his community together. He started “The Resurrection Basketball League,” which played not at parks or gyms, but in the street, in order to push gangs and violence out and instead make way for positive activity. That league became the blueprint for what Hoops in the Hood is today.

Tournament Manager Robert Castaneda and Alvaro Obregon, New Communities Program Director for The Resurrection Project

Photo: David Babb

 “When we started the league, I didn’t believe in taking the kids off the streets. I felt we needed to take the problems off the streets, so the residents could interact with one another without fear of gang violence,” reflects Obregon. As surrounding communities became aware of what The Resurrection Project was doing, they began creating similar programs. Enlace, a community development organization in nearby Little Village, was one of the first to partner with Obregon, and thoughts of a citywide structure involving many neighborhoods began to form.

Hoops in the Hood began to spread faster as LISC provided resources such as seed grants, technical assistance workshops, and event management for the Citywide Finals. LISC also contracted with Beyond the Ball to provide one-on-one technical assistance with city groups running similar programs, which put the structure in place to have a uniform Citywide Finals. Robert Castaneda, Executive Director of Beyond the Ball, serves as Tournament Manager. “What this is really all about is community organizations and residents working together to build relationships, first locally and then across the city,” he explained.

The Hoops in the Hood Citywide Finals has taken Obregon’s goal of uniting neighborhoods to a higher level. Juan Hernandez, League Coordinator for the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, has witnessed the benefits. “This summer Hoops in the Hood brought the residents of Logan Square together, which is great to see, but an even greater aspect of the program is this tournament. It’s allowing Chicagoans become familiar with one other, which is hard to do considering how dangerous most of these neighborhoods are.”

Photo: David Babb

Auburn Gresham’s “In the Paint” basketball league coach, Dwyene Gray, has enjoyed his neighborhood’s first year of involvement with Hoops in the Hood. “Everyone here has welcomed us with open arms. Anytime we can take advantage of the city’s resources, using them to keep our youth out of trouble while bringing families together, is a great example of community organization.”

The Citywide Finals consists of three divisions with teams from all eleven communities. Humboldt Park defeated East Garfield Park to capture the championship in the Pee-Wee Division, which included youth from eight to ten years old. While his team fell short, Little Village’s Pee-Wee Coach Jesse Roman knows winning is not the focus of the tournament. “It’s great to see everyone get along. The tournament is teaching kids that no matter what neighborhood they are from or what the color of their skin is, they all have at least one thing in common—basketball. And if they can get that, they may begin to see they have other things in common as well.”

“Eleven years ago, I could not have imagined the basketball league we started in Pilsen would grow to this size. Back then we had to borrow portable hoops and ask anyone who had a basketball to come out and share it with the neighborhood,” says Obregon about how pleased he is to see the growth of the program he created. He expresses gratitude for help received along the way. “Hoops in the Hood could not have been possible without the assistance of Keri Blackwell and LISC! They took the time to see what we were doing out in Pilsen and helped expand it to what we are seeing now—every year new neighborhoods join in.”

Two of those new neighborhoods met in the finals of the Major Division for 15 to 19 year-olds, with Chicago Lawn edging out East Garfield Park. Logan Square came out on top in the Minor Division for 11 to 14 year-olds, narrowly defeating the Little Village squad.

Quentin Fair from Chicago Lawn was named MVP of the tournament. He was quick to grab the microphone and credit his outstanding play to his teammates. “I couldn’t have won this award without the help of my team!” exclaimed Fair. In similar fashion, the Hoops in the Hood Citywide Finals would not have been possible without all eleven communities working as a team. Clearly, the spirit of community is already catching on.