BSA forms basketball league to prevent gang activity

The Blair Sports Academy (BSA) expanded its gang prevention and academic support initiatives to the formation of a basketball league that began Tuesday, according to Security Assistant and BSA Director Jose Segura.

After the implementation of last year's indoor soccer league, organizers hope to reach a different demographic with the same goal in mind: "to get kids off the street [and provide] a structured environment where they can come, stay out of trouble and have fun with a focus on academics," said Segura.

The basketball league will follow the same format as the indoor soccer league. Students bring their own teams of eight to the small gym after school on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Although they can no longer bring new teams into the league, students may still join existing teams. Guidelines for participating will also remain the same, including the requirement that all players with a GPA of 2.0 or below attend academic support.

Last spring, the indoor soccer league attracted 389 students, more than 10 percent of the school's population, according to Segura.

The BSA hopes to eventually expand into a four-part program that will run throughout the year: a basketball league in the fall, a wrestling team in the winter, an indoor soccer league in the spring and a camp in the summer, according to Blair Gang Task Force leader Susan Gardiner. "Our goal is to serve the maximum amount that will come out," she said.

Battling gangs

A surge of gang activity last summer, including five knife attacks at Springbrook and at a Target store in Wheaton - thought by police to be the work of prominent Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha - has intensified gang prevention efforts throughout the community.

In 2004, the Joint County Gang Prevention Gang Task Force, a council between Montgomery County and Prince George's County officials, was formed to recommend strategies to counter gangs in response to rising gang activity in the D.C.-metropolitan area. The Task Force stressed a three-pronged effort: prevention, suppression and intervention.

To further curb gang activity, it is imperative to sponsor prevention programs and structured after-school activities like the indoor soccer and basketball leagues, according to Luis Hurtado, Community Relations Specialist and Hispanic Liaison Officer for the Montgomery County Police Department. "A gang person has no relations to communities, no relations to schools," he said. "When you have a program at Blair, [the students] develop positive relationships where they can depend on others. It's outstanding."

Junior William Soriano, who played in the indoor soccer league last spring, said that participating in the league fostered communication between players. In addition to making new friends, Soriano improved relations with team members he did not initially like. "We had to talk to each other and became friends," he said.

"It'd be good for the kids"

Integrating academic support with the sports programs is another priority for the BSA. According to Physical Education teacher Emanuel Charles, who volunteered as a referee and security guard during games, the league motivated players last year to get help with schoolwork if they were failing. "They love sports, so they're going to do anything to play," he said.

Before standardized tests such as the High School Assessments and the Geometry Maryland State Assessments (MSA) this year, the BSA required 23 players who were failing their Geometry classes to attend review sessions. This year, Blair met federal standardized testing requirements for the Geometry MSA in the category of Hispanic males, which was the demographic that had caused Blair to fail to meet the testing standards the year before. BSA organizers attribute this achievement to the hard work and collaboration between many teachers and students through the soccer league. "It was a team effort between the [English for Speakers of Other Languages] ESOL department, staff development, the math department [and others]," Segura said. "All these played a crucial part in the kids' performance."

Even though the BSA will have enough money to run the basketball league, it is still waiting for additional funds to finance the entire program for the year, Gardiner said. The $25,000 County Council grant that went to the YMCA last year will also be transferred to the BSA throughout the year.

With funds in place, organizers look forward to a successful new season and league. "I would like to see it happen," said Charles. "It'd be good for the kids."