PV grads host first Be The Change
PV grads Ford-Bey, Jaworski host first Be The Change tournament
SANATOGA » Matt Ford-Bey and Justin Jaworski used their talents to help Perkiomen Valley bring home multiple Pioneer Athletic Conferences championships before graduating in 2017.
Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement that has drawn national focus after protests around the country, Ford-Bey, a standout on the football field, and Jaworski, a Mercury All-Area Player of the Year on the gridiron and basketball court who now plays hoops at Lafayette, decided sports was the best way to contribute to the cause.
The two former Vikings hosted the first Be The Change 3-on-3 basketball tournament Saturday to raise money for social justice reform organizations. Area basketball trainer and accomplished coach Bob Koch rented out his backyard court in Sanatoga for the event, which ran quite smoothly outside a short rain delay.
“Honestly, I was just trying to think of a way I could make an impact in my community, not only raise awareness but actually take it another step,” Ford-Bey said. “Me and Justin being really good friends, and him being the basketball player that he is, I knew he would know a lot of people who would want to play basketball. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity.
“I’m not even risking my life doing this,” he added. “This is something very small, so I just felt empowered by everything that’s going on right now. And being African-American, I should just try to do something like the tournament’s name, Be The Change.”
The tournament featured 20 teams and about 70 players, each player donating $10. With several other outside donations, the Be The Change tournament raised $1,440 to be donated to a social justice reform organization.
Jaworski and Ford-Bey put together a researched list for the winning team to choose where the donations went. They included the Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights camp, Association of Black Foundation Executives, Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Phoenixville Area Positive Alternatives.
Former Perkiomen Valley standout and Rosemont College alum Mekhi Clemons led his team to the championship, choosing to donate the raised funds to the Association of Black Foundation Executives. It strives to promote effective and responsive philanthropy in Black communities through donations, grants and partnership with non-profits.
“I’ve always been passionate about (social justice reform), but I really didn’t know what to do,” Jaworski said. “Obviously with all the stuff with George Floyd and everybody was talking about it.
There were protests going on and that’s great because it raises awareness, but I just wanted to do something where it felt like I was making a tangible difference rather than just bringing awareness. I wanted to raise money and donate it to somewhere that’s fighting against these issues.”
Jaworski used his basketball connections to recruit 20 team captains and have them fill out their squads of three or four players. Multiple eras of Perkiomen Valley basketball were wellrepresented, ranging from current PV senior Kameron Parks to 2013 Viking grad Steve Leonard, who played at Ursinus College and Temple University.
Some of Jaworski’s Lafatyette teammates also participated, including CB West grad Cal Reichwein. Several of his former PAC foes like Phoenixville’s Christian Kelly, a two-time Mercury All-Area Player of the Year, and Spring-Ford’s Cameron Reid were also there.
“Everybody always talks about no matter how big your voice is you can make a difference,” Jaworski said. “I think that’s why Matt came to me with the idea. With the connections that I have through basketball, he knew we could get a bunch of different people. I just tried to use that platform, all the connections I’ve made throughout the years to get everybody out. It was really cool to see all the people who have been my rivals my whole life, that we all just came together and were playing for a cause bigger than ourselves.”
Current PAC head coaches Eric Burnett (Phoenixville) and Brendan Stanton (Pope John Paul II) both had teams in the tournament. Burnett teamed with his former players Kelly and Avery Close to play for Phoenixville Area Positive Alternatives.
PAPA, a primarily volunteer, grass-roots organization founded in 1995, works to serve the area’s youth through academic, social and athletic programs, like the summer basketball league Burnett is involved in.
Though Burnett’s team did not bring home the title, he was happy to contribute to Jaworski’s goal of playing in small role in pushing forward social justice reform.
“It was great to be involved,” Burnett said.
“Hearing from Justin and hearing what he was doing and the movement he was trying to start with it, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to participate and get some of our former players involved.
“Personally, this is something that as a mentor, a teacher and a coach, I’m fortunate enough to be in the position where I can talk to young people, young men about treating people kindly about their age, race, gender, abilities,” he added. “That’s something that we’ve always preached on and that’s not going to change; in fact, we’re going to step it up even more and hold some of these conversations. It’s very important for us, it’s right at the course of our philosophy is how we treat others. We’ve been holding these conversations. We’ve been reaching out to players whether individually or as a group and holding some discussions about these social justice reforms.”
Ford-Bey and Jaworski organized the Be The
Change tournament in about three weeks. Jaworski said while some of his time working at basketball camps helped him structure the schedule of the day, he had never put together an event like this by himself before.
Both thanked Koch as well as Ryan Homes at Spring Valley, which provided parking for the event. Many of their friends also assisted with refereeing and scorekeeping during the tournament.
“Everyone who volunteered and just came out and supported and everyone who played, I was just so proud of us,” Ford-Bey said. “It was a good feeling.”
The hope for Ford-Bey and Jaworski is that the Be The Change tournament is something they can continue in years to come.
“We wanted to run this as soon as possible the first year so we can show this is not just a one time thing, and definitely try to expand and make more teams the next time we do,” Ford-Bey said.