God, Family & Basketball
During a conversation with Roland, a part-time Lyft driver and San Antonio native who makes it a point to somehow watch every Spurs game, I quickly found out that the San Antonio Spurs are a major part of the city’s social fabric. I’m on my way to the Mays Family YMCA at Potranco, one of twenty-six sites in the city that hosts the Spurs Youth Basketball League to hang out with a group of seven and eight year-old hoopers.
When I arrived to nearby Robert L. Lewis MIddle School, I was greeted by parents and YMCA staff members whose southern hospitality and charm reminded me of my time in Norfolk, Virginia. Each family proudly had court-side seats to watch their kids play a game they can grow to love.
Before the game, team Aftershock stretched and went over the gameplan for the day before breaking down into skill work drills. After a prayer, coach Sean DeLeon talked about sportsmanship. At seven years old, the game is about how children develop as people and not so much about back screens, paint touches, ball reversals and emergency ball screen actions as the shot clock winds down.
Coach Carl West led the stretches and before the game he called all the parents to center court to set the tone for the day. Each player recited a pledge consistent with the core values of the YMCA, the religious history of San Antonio’s Catholic missions that were established in the 18th century, and the principles that the game of basketball were founded upon:
“Win or lose/I pledge before God/To play the game as well as I know how/To obey the rules/And to be a good sport at all times/And to improve myself in Spirit, mind and body.”
and the parents followed
“I pledge before God/To always support my team/With good sportsmanship and sound judgement/And to develop my child’s self respect/And to support their participation in the program.”
“The Spurs Youth Basketball League was founded in 1989 by Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich and Kids Sports Network president/founder Frank Martin as a way of promoting recreational youth basketball in economically disadvantaged areas of San Antonio. The SYBL is a recipient of President George H. W. Bush’s Point of Light Award for its innovative programming and anti-drug efforts. Over the past two decades more than 350,000 children and coaches have benefited from the SYBL.
The league offers 11,000 young people from primarily lower income neighborhoods the opportunity to play basketball and improve their athletic skills while learning teamwork, cooperation, and discipline in a positive and safe environment.
The Spurs Youth Basketball League, presented by Pizza Hut, is funded by Silver & Black Give Back, which underwrites the cost of player and coach jerseys, background checks, coach training and certification, and marketing and administration.”
Special thanks to The Mays Family YMCA at Potranco’s sports director Jon Ramirez for allowing me to come and photograph the program.
