Bringing a community together with basketball
‘It’s just amazing that people are ... showing love for a change.’
BOYNTON BEACH — After gun violence ripped apart two families with deep roots in the Heart of Boynton community in about two months, resident Maurice Hayes thought it couldn’t get any worse.
The city had 11 homicides in 2017 — the most since at least 2009 — and four of them happened nearby.
“There was so much bad stuff happening,” said Hayes, 46. “Somebody gotta do something.”
Basketball was the best way to make a change, he thought.
On a Wednesday night more than three months ago, Hayes gathered a few friends and they played ball at the neighborhood Sara Sims Park off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. No uniforms. All skill levels welcome.
They just had to support the cause: “Peace in the Hood.”
Since then, the basketball games haven’t stopped and the crowd has only grown.
At least 100 people came to the park last Wednesday to play hoops or relax for a few hours and watch.
“It’s just amazing that people are coming to show love for a change,” Hayes said. “On Wednesdays, the whole city is out.”
And it seems to be working. The residents say they’ve seen a decrease in violence on the streets.
Police Capt. Paul Deale couldn’t confirm that, but said: “I would hope that it’s due to the basketball games, but you never know.”
A neighborhood
‘left for dead’
The rundown park — which will be under construction this fall for an upgrade — is north of Boynton Beach Boulevard in a low-income area of the city where residents are in desperate need of affordable housing, restaurants, job and activities.
Near the park is a Family Dollar that was built about two years ago and is the first commercial business to come to the area in at least 40 years.
“Over here, we’re left for dead,” said Tory Orr, 40.
City commissioners, for decades, have tried to revi- talize the area, with little success.
The community has three police officers dedicated to the neighborhood who are tasked with building relationships and trust with the residents. But as neighborhood officers, they don’t enforce the law. Rather, they mentor children and go into local schools, meet homeowners and help families in need.
But the neighborhood was still plagued with shootings.
In September, po l ice say, Kelcey Riddick killed Derrick Barber, 35. About two months later, Barber’s brother, Samuel, k illed 40-year-old Kunta, Kelcey’s twin. Hayes said he knows both families.
Then came the basketball games.
At this past week’s game, two of the neighborhood offi- cers stood outside the park and watched the group shoot hoops for a bit.
Two weeks ago, six offi- cers volunteered to play bas- ketball with the group as part of their ongoing effort to “humanize the badge,” Deale said.
The par tic ipation was welcomed by the residents because the police shut down the games the week before, citing crowd and loud music complaints. Police found cars parked on the grass and the air filled with the odor of marijuana.
In 2016, the city commission put a stop to granting permits to big events after a rash of out-of-control block- parties and dirt-bike or ATV riding at the park.
But the city didn’t want to stop the basketball games for good.
City Manager Lori LaVerriere and Interim Chief Kelly Harris met with the group in April to discuss how to create a positive evening of fun.
The park doesn’t have adequate space for cars to accommodate the crowds that are turning out. Worried about liability, LaVerriere gave organizers parame- ters because they don’t have a permit.
“We want them to come out and set up chairs and have food and have kids run- ning around and having fun and not bog them down with the bureaucracy of having to go through the permit process,” LaVerriere said.
“As long as they aren’t selling food, parking illegally and setting up tents.”
Food, music, games unite neighbors
Both sides seem satisfied with the meeting, and city employees want to play basketball with the group on a rotating basis. There were talks of the Wednesday games moving to a bigger park or growing into an adult league with the city.
This past Wednesday, the games were heavily attended by residents and a few children. About two dozen sat in the stands. A few men played dominoes on top of a garbage can. A handful brought lawn chairs and watched the crowd. Many men and women mingled in the parking lot.
CJ Jones cooked vegan food for the crowd to taste.
Jones, the brother of Corey Jones, the stranded motorist who was shot and killed by a former Palm Beach Gardens police officer who was undercover that night in 2015, said he wants to show the community healthy eating.
An ice cream truck pulled up offering Wacky Watermelon ice pops, ice cream sandwiches and sundae cones. The Bass Jam Express truck offered hot dogs and more.
The food aromas competed against the strong scent of marijuana. All the parking spots were taken, so people parked in the aisle and on the grass. Music blasted from speakers and dirt bikes raced and roared.
“We’re going to monitor it,” LaVerriere said. “We want to be a partner with them, but we also have to monitor it because we have to be in compliance with laws.”
But what might be problematic to the city is far from that to the crowd.
Don Warren said litter would all be cleaned up by morning because residents come to take cans and turn them in for money.
“This is a different outlet,” he said. “They sell their food. They might not have a vendor’s license ... they could be doing a whole lot worse.”
“It’s peaceful,” said Fred Newton, 23, who came to the park to play basketball Wednesday. “It really stops the violence instead of seeing sirens all the time.”
Pernell McGee, 53, sat in his lawn chair with his back to the courts and watched the crowd gathered in the parking lot.
“It brings the community together,” he said. “I like that it keeps a lot of guys out of trouble,”