As part of NY1's coverage of Black History Month, photojournalist Kristi Lee Neuberger shared the story about how one Manhattan organization uses basketball as the driving force toward success for many young people.
Steven Cruz, former member of Riverside Hawks: “Basketball for me was something given. I grew up in uptown Washington Heights where Dykeman basketball is one of the most well known parks in the neighborhood. And I literally lived across the street from it. I just woke up, went right across the street and there were all my friends playing basketball.”
Namoi Luka, current Riverside Hawks member: “Going into high school, I didn't even want to think about college. All my friends were applying to colleges already and I was still over here like, 'How do you guys know what colleges you wanna go to?’”
Tony Hargraves, Riverside Hawks program director: “I'm the first graduate in my family to go to a college. I went to Iona College."
Dr. Emily Anderson, member of the Board of Directors for Riverside Hawks: “For the first half of the lifespan of Riverside Hawks, that was the goal; to really produce these high-level athletes for the NBA."
Dermon Player, coach, Riverside Hawks: “When I came to Riverside Church, I had the likes of Elton Brand, Lamar Odom, Jerry Stackhouse, the list goes on and on and on."
Anderson: “We began to talk about making sure that the kids are doing well in school. So, as a prerequisite for being on any of our teams, they had to give us their report cards. If they were failing or below average, we provided the tutoring services that they needed."
Cruz: “Coming into Riverside Hawks, I was in the mentality of 'ball is life,' and basketball is all that I do, and all that I breathe. And coming in here and – being completely honest – it was like a turn of events of, ‘Yeah, we play basketball here, but also we have study hall. We also have SAT preps. We also have…let’s check your report card.’ Things that I was kind of shocked at.”
Anderson: “We definitely feel that basketball is the hook that gets the youngsters involved. The main focus is all these kinds of activities to enrich their lives and help them to see that they can be successful in a number of areas of life, even if they're not star basketball players.”
Luka: “Tony has been staying on top of me with all this college things. The second I said I wanted to be a nurse, he was like, 'OK, I have some connections.' Like not even a week later, he said, ‘I want you to sign up for this program we have. It’s connected with a major hospital in the city.’ So I signed up and I’m in the SWAG Program.”
Anderson: “We are trying to open so many doors for our young people so that they see that there are opportunities everywhere that there are no limits.”
Hargraves: “We understand where you're from. There is another world that you can go to. We're here to help expose those things to you.”
Cruz: “I feel like growing up, all my friends would say – it's the quote on like – 'basketball is my ticket out the hood. And, you know, being a part of Riverside Hawks, it was like a big pivotal moment where basketball is not your ticket. Basketball is a fantastic resource – it’s a tool – that can allow you to dream bigger and dream about things that maybe a year ago you didn't even think existed.”
Anderson: “Basketball is a joyous experience for many of these youngsters and it leads them to our doors where we can work with them and help them to move beyond the joy of basketball, into the joy of living a good life.”