Tournament’s goal is to get youth to shoot for stars
Third-annual event also remembers young victims of violence
Ayoub Omar had barely passed midcourt when, to his defender’s surprise, he leapt and took aim at the hoop. Not the tallest 14-yearold you’ve probably ever met, it’s unlikely he was aware of Drake’s In My Feelings blasting throughout the gym as he released the basketball in a high arc.
And as the ball caromed off the backboard and through the basket, it’s unlikely he thought much about the purpose behind the three-onthree tournament in which he was playing.
He was mainly there, he later said, to be with his friends and have some fun shooting hoops.
“Have fun with friends, get a barbecue. Just have good times, good moments. It’s good.
“There’s stuff on the news saying there are gunshots and stuff like that,” he added, “but really, if you come to the neighbourhood, you see kids smiling and a lot of stuff going good. People talk about the negative stuff and leave the positive stuff behind.”
But there certainly was a higher purpose to Saturday’s third-annual Balling 4 Our Brothers tournament, held at the Michele Heights Community Centre and nearby Ottawa Boys and Girls Club. It was a day that revolved around basketball, but also included a barbecue, henna and face-painting, and tug of war.
“It’s an event to pay tribute to the brothers in our community who lost their lives due to violence,” said Mishka Kana, one of nine volunteer members of West End Youth Motivators, which organized the tournament and activities.
“Basketball is the perfect activity because it’s the main sport played all the time by everybody in our community.”
The tournament featured 16 teams comprised of players aged 13 to 15 in the junior division and 16 to 19 in the senior group. Most of the participants, Kana added, came from the Michele Heights, Ritchie Street and Foster Farm neighbourhoods.
Mukhtar Ismail, another organizer, said the event and other mentorship programs put on by WEYM aim to enforce the notion that the participants all have great potential and talent, and can do whatever they want.
“We want to let them know that they can make whatever they want come true, and that they don’t only have one option, and that option is the streets.
“So we promote that goodness, so they can say, ‘OK, I can be that lawyer, I can be that person in the NBA, or I can be a coach,’ that they can be whatever person they want to be, with hard work and dedication.”
A number of speakers, including Bay Ward Coun. Mark Taylor, were scheduled to attend.
“I’m doing this to support the community,” said 17-year-old player Alrayan Abdelkareem, adding that events like Saturday ’s help reduce violence by fostering a sense of community.
“But it’s not like what they portray in the media, like shootings every single day and people getting stabbed in those areas. It’s not as bad as it used to be. It’s getting better, day by day.”