On Dece
mber 12, 2015, MAM, the Memphis Leadership Foundation, and the National Basketball Association of Retired Players hosted an NBA Cares Event at the Memphis Grizzlies Center. Here is the story from the Legends of Basketball website: Full Court Press at Memphis Athletic Ministries
Thank you to MAM’s Rod Hinton for providing the great video located on the Legends of Basketball website!
NBRPA AND PARTNERS HOLDS FULL COURT PRESS AT MEMPHIS ATHLETIC MINISTRIES
On Saturday, December 12, the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA), the only alumni association comprised of former NBA, ABA, Harlem Globetrotters and WNBA players, brought its Full Court Press: Prep For Success program to the Memphis Athletic Ministries.
The Full Court Press is a single-day youth basketball and mentoring clinic for underserved boys and girls held in cities across the United States and abroad that visits 10-15 cities annually. Memphis was the last stop on the Full Court Press 2015 schedule. The program is designed to introduce participating youth to positive role models in both basketball and life, with equal time spent on the basketball court, in the classroom and at a mentoring roundtable.
In Memphis, all participating players were local residents and provided a home court feel to the program. They spent the day assisting over 225 kids! Activities for the day included on court basketball drills as well as classroom and mentoring projects. The local legends that participated included former University of Memphis greats Cedric Henderson and Hank McDowell and Tennessee locals and former players Larry Spicer and David Vaughn.
Kids arrived by bus with specialized group supervisor and once settled, McDowell opened up the clinic introducing all the former players to the energetic kids. On hand to help the players were staff members from the Memphis Athletic Ministries.
Throughout the day, all four former players ran their own drills arranging from dribbling to passing to an all out basketball scrimmage.
Off the court, Memphis Athletic Ministries President and CEO Randy Odom led engaging life and skills classroom discussions that helped teach the kids about the objectives of life outside the game of basketball. Afterwards, Chris Hill from National Police Athletic/Activities League recapped the day’s events and gave the kids an inspirational message to continue to work hard before ending a very successful day with a group photo.
The NBRPA and its partners are very happy to complete another successful year of the Full Court Press program. The association is very grateful for the help of Memphis Athletic Ministries for working with us to assure a great and positive experience for the Memphis youth. The goal of the Full Court Press program is to make a positive impact on many kids’ lives like the ones made in Memphis this past weekend and the NBRPA and its partners look forward to continuing this initiative in 2016.
About FULL COURT PRESS: Prep for Success
A youth basketball and mentoring clinic for underserved boys and girls, ages 10-16, in cities across the United States. The program is designed to introduce participating youth to positive role models in both basketball and life, with equal time spent on the basketball court, in the classroom and at a mentoring roundtable as part of a robust curriculum.
Full Court Press: Prep for Success is a joint initiative of the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA), NBA Cares, the National Police Athletic/Activities League (PAL), Leadership Foundations (LF) and Jobsy Wobsy. This touring program visits 10-15 cities annually and includes four former professional basketball players as coaches and mentors in each session. Mentoring classroom periods address topics relevant to each community and are taught by community leaders from Leadership Foundations and PAL. The mentoring roundtable in each session falls in line with the White House’s “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative and includes from all three partners.
About Memphis Athletic Ministries. Founded in 1998, Memphis Athletic Ministries (MAM), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, seeks to help build godly youth in under-resourced neighborhoods by teaching them to love God, love others and love themselves. Our vision is to develop youth into Christ-centered, productive adults, positively impacting their families and neighborhoods. MAM offers year-round mentoring programs, including academics, career readiness, life skills, spiritual training, recreation and sports, to youth, ages 8 to 18, through nine neighborhood youth centers. For more information, go to www.mamsports.org.
