We continued our success during the third week of Chain Link Fundamentals programming in New York City with our continued outreach into the community. Thousands of children of all ages on the playground playing the game, without possessing the basic and necessary tools to succeed at basketball.
A select few are privileged enough to get noticed or have a coach in the family to teach them these skills, but the vast majority are left behind on the playground to repeat the crossover dribbles and other “ooh and ahh-” inducing moves pushed to the forefront of basketball coverage.
What Chain Link Fundamentals seeks to do is provide top-notch coaching to any and every kid that comes to our program. And most importantly, free of charge in comparison to other skill camps or clinics that may cost hundreds of dollars that inner-city families just don’t have.
We’ve been able to host several large groups, including the Beacon Community Center, the Millbank Center, Harlem Children’s Zone, the Gauchos, and Street Corner Resources. Kids have come from Yonkers, Uniondale, and even Denmark to partake in our program, showing the obvious necessity for programs of this nature to improve our children.
For this third session, our participants received a truly unique experience: learning from pro-caliber players on the court then heading to the World Basketball Festival gallery titled “The Ball Room,” an exhibition of Nike and basketball history. The Signature Moves portion allows the kids to watch their favorite players execute their go-to move and learn how to replicate it and add the move to their own repertoire.
Without a doubt, the New York City youth that participate in Chain Link Fundamentals programming this summer will become better basketball players because of it, by taking the skills they’ve attained, and repeating the drills they learned throughout the year.
Coach Kenny Satterfield instructing at the ball handling station.
