Javonte Odoms, 17, walks from his home to the nearby Azell-Ginwright Family Life Center in Foley on two Fridays in each month. He said he would go more if he could.

The night of March 4 was no different. Odoms made the walk and joined around 50 other kids to play a few games of pick-up basketball.

It seems like a simple act, but just having the choice to go to the center already makes his Friday nights that much better.

“I’d be bored, probably sitting on the corner,” Odoms said when asked what he would be doing if there were no pick-up games available. “On Friday night, you got nothing else to do.”

On the first and third Friday of each month, the Foley Housing Authority and Generations Church, of Foley, team up to host a midnight basketball event at the center. From 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. kids ages 13 years old and younger play full-court games. From 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., the kids play half-court games while the kids ages 14-to-19 years old play on the other half of the court. Then, from 10 p.m to 11 p.m., the older kids play full-court games. The games last 30 minutes, and the teams are redrawn and another 30-minute game begins. When they’re not playing, the kids are offered free hot dogs, snacks and drinks.

At first glance, it seems like the kids are just hanging out and playing basketball. According to the program organizers and coordinators, it’s what the kids aren’t doing, and what they are learning and receiving, that makes this program so important.

Players in need

Cindy Hamrick, executive director of the Foley Housing Authority, said the program is needed for a number of reasons. One reason, she said, is to offer a free program to kids who might not be able to afford other programs.

“One of the problems that we have in society today is a lack of funding or cut of funding for some of these programs,” she said. “The programs that were once in place have been eliminated completely and others are struggling. We felt like we should target some of those at-risk kids, the ones that can’t go to these other programs and pay a fee. We wanted to offer this free of charge. It’s easily accessible for them.”

The authority serves low-income families in the area known as Aaronville, Hamrick said. Tammy McRae, a Generations Church pastor, said Aaronville is considered “the housing projects of Foley.”

“We call them the public housing authority apartments,” Hamrick said. “The programs that we offer, we administer the federal funds for low-income families for housing. We’re already servicing the low-income families for housing, so by making this an additional option for the kids to utilize it, too, is catered for the low-income families. Some of the families we deal with on a regular basis can’t afford to put their kids in a program that costs a monthly fee or even the initial registration fee.”

 A lot of the kids who come to the program live near the center, Hamrick said, and another reason for the program is simply just to give some kids an alternative.

“It gives them an option,” Hamrick said. “It gives them something productive to do.”

Hamrick said the kids expressed interest in having something else to do with their time, and she hopes it “deters them” from the possibility of gangs and violence, drugs and alcohol.

“I can’t make a comment about whether those things are problems in our community, or if the kids are susceptible to those things.” Hamrick said, noting she doesn’t want anyone to think negatively about the area. “However, this program could only help.”

Joining forces

When the idea was brought up, Hamrick and the authority began to put the pieces in place and needed someone to help begin turning the wheels and turn the idea into action. That’s where Generations Church came into the fold.

“It was her desire to give the kids an alternative,” Michael McRae, another Generations Church pastor, said. “Our goal was we wanted to serve the area.

“We met her and she said, ‘I have an idea, but I don’t have anyone to do it,’ and we said we’d offer to help,” Tammy said. “We wanted to reach out to the community and help the kids that no one else wants.”

“It came together so well,” Hamrick said. “They wanted to do something for the community. They were praying for something to do and we were praying to find someone to help us out with this idea. It’s really been a great team effort and it wouldn’t be possible without them. We’re simply looking to do what the kids need.”

Michael, Tammy and a few members of the church group come to the center and help coordinate the program. Some members cook hot dogs and hand out drinks and snacks for the kids. Michael helps referee the games and divide the kids into teams.

At the first midnight basketball program in January, about 40 kids showed up, according to Denise Simms, the center’s activities director. Since, there have been around 50 kids each night. The event is growing, and there is hope to turn the program into a league.

“We’re trying to join a national midnight basketball league,” Hamrick said.

But most importantly, the authority and church show up twice a month each month and are there for the kids. They said they don’t plan on leaving anytime soon, and they think the kids are thankful for that.

“One night, a girl came up to me and asked me why we were here,” Chrissie Wilson, Generations Church administrative assistant, said. “I said, ‘We love you guys and wanted to do something for you all and hang out.’ She said, ‘It’s about time someone stayed.’ I guess they have people who have tried stuff like this before but never stayed consistently, and the kids like that we’re here for good.”

Back in the game as a teacher

Tyron Townsend said he knows what’s out on the streets. He said he’s been there before, and he’d rather see the kids coming to the center each night to play basketball than be “out there.”

“I prefer to seem them playing ball here than out there,” he said while watching the older kids play half-court games. “I know what’s out there. It isn’t anything to write home to mom about.”

Townsend is part of the Generations Church team that comes out twice a month to help organize and run the midnight basketball program. He was the referee for around three hours at the program on March 4, giving up his time to help the kids learn about the game of basketball.

“To do the the thing I love to do and be with the kids and teach them that basketball is a game of respect is just tremendous,” he said, noting he loves the game of basketball.

Townsend used to play high school basketball in Texas, but he said he was “hard-headed” and ruined his chance. Now, he sees the same stuff in the kids that go to the center.

“They’ve all been playing together since around the sixth grade. They all know one another,” he said about some of the high school kids that come to the program. “Some of these kids feel that without basketball, there’s nothing for them. They see these guys like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, and they want to be just like them, but they don’t know that it takes a lot of hard work…A lot of these kids have talent, they just don’t have anyone to help them use that talent.”

Townsend said when he was 18 years old, he was “already facing a 30-year sentence.”

“I was always getting into trouble,” he said. “(I was getting into) major trouble when I was these kids’ age.”

But now, he gets to reverse his past and help the kids out just by giving them a Friday night alternative, keeping them off the streets and offering a bit of guidance and teaching.

“I love this because I can be a part of it and teach the kids respect and also teach them to respect their opponents,” he said.

On the other side of the court, Michael was trying to teach the same qualities to the younger kids during his refereeing duties. Things seemed to be getting out of hand; and the kids stopped passing, started playing as individuals and even started pushing and shoving one another. Michael stopped the game, took off his referee hat and put on his teaching cap.

“If I see anyone pushing or anyone fighting over the ball, I’m going to sit you down,” he said to the group. “Everyone is playing as an individual. You have to play as a team.”

“It also gives them a little bit of leadership or guidance. Maybe there’s a dispute between one child or another, there’s some guidance so maybe they can learn to get past that later. So it’s not just play time,” Hamrick said about the program and the reasons for creating it. “We wanted to start somewhere with giving them the guidance that was needed. We feel like there’s more mentoring needed for our youth.”

The points don’t

matter

Willie Kent, 12, said he walks to the event from his house every first and third Friday of the month.

He just finished playing a game during the program on March 4 among the younger group and excitedly said, “I scored all the points but one.”

In a game among the older kids on the same night, Javonte Odoms scored more than 10 points. While watching him play, Townsend said Odoms is a good player, and with a little bit of coaching, he could be “really good.”

“I love it,” Odoms said about the program. “I love basketball.”

Most of the kids that come do love basketball, and most of the kids care how well they play. However, to Michael, Tammy and everyone else helping put together and run the program, it doesn’t matter if Kent and Odoms score 100 points or miss every shot.

What matters to them is that the kids come on the first and third Friday of every month to the center to play basketball.

“We just want people, especially the kids, to know we are here,” Michael said. “We’re here for any kid in the city. We want to serve the city and make it better.”

“We hope it changes their lives forever,” Tammy said.