The Scrimmages Are Over - It's Time For Tip-Off

With the fourth season of the Bronx Community Solutions Basketball League set to tip off tomorrow night (December 8th) at 7:30 at the Bronxdale Community Center, the staff members here at Bronx Community Solutions have been actively seeking team members. One of the members is profiled after the jump...

From Case Manager Daren Mills

"I haven't been doin' anything with myself and I'm tired of it." That statement was made by Keith, one of the men who will make up the Bronx Community Solutions Bombers this season. On Tuesday, November 24th, Keith, along with nine other offenders who completed mandates through Bronx Community Solutions, met one another for the first time for introductions and to hear what each individual was hoping to get out of the program.

All of this season's team members were excited for the competition, and were looking forward to the chance to improve themselves. Keith, 20, first spoke to me after a social service group that he was mandated to. The idea of playing on a basketball team against teams of law enforcement officers caught his attention. After I explained that the league was about more than just basketball, his interest increased. Keith did not finish high school, nor has he made any progress toward getting his GED. He is fully aware that one reason for his arrest was his free time. He viewed his Bronx Community Solutions sentence and meeting with me as a chance to get back on track and make something of himself.

Although basketball is front and center, there is more at stake for Keith and the other Bronx Community Solutions Bombers. This is their chance to further their educational and career prospects, to stay out of the criminal justice system, and to become positive and productive role models for the people in their lives.