‘IT’S ALWAYS HERE’
Boys and Girls Club plays big role
It’s a shade past 4 p.m. on a Thursday and, like clockwork, school buses are dropping off scores of preteens at the Boys and Girls Club on MacArthur Avenue.
For the Korka-Waadah kids — Normene, 11, Yesua, 10, and Joseph, nine — this place has become a daily part of their post-school routine for the past three years.
“I learned how to play the drums, I got better at piano, and we’ve played the guitar,” says Normene. “There’s basketball, soccer, handball. It’s always here.”
As late afternoon turns to evening, teens will gradually join the younger crowd, all of them finding a home with instructors somewhere on the new artificial turf indoor field, the original gymnasium with the well-used basketball court, the state-of-the art computer room, music studio or arts and crafts room.
Somebody could be preparing a meal in the elaborate kitchen. A few more are playing ping-pong and foosball in the main room near the registration desk.
At this moment, though, the children are engaged in their mandatory one-hour homework club, a few of them being helped by volunteer tutors from high schools.
It’s a well-oiled machine here and at the other six main Boys and Girls clubhouses in the city, located in vulnerable areas where youth have been deemed “at risk” due to their tough neighbourhoods and economic conditions. More than 4,500 children take advantage of the Ottawa clubs each year.
Since 1996, the proceeds from the annual Ringside for Youth night — the 2018 event will be held Thursday at the Shaw Centre — has contributed $3 million toward Boys and Girls Club facilities and programs. The Jays Care Foundation and The Senators Foundation, the charity arms of the Toronto Blue Jays and Ottawa Senators, respectively, have also played significant roles in keeping the balls in play, the pianos tuned and the computers up to date. For many of the regular visitors, there are no computers at home, making the latter a vital resource to complete homework assignments. And there’s sports, of course. “This has allowed us to double our physical activity space here,” says Jennifer Baca, director of advancement for the city’s Boys and Girls clubs, standing in the middle of the artificial turf field, which includes bleachers and a Jays Care logo. “We are lucky to have such good relationships with the Blue Jays and Senators.”
The in-house Senators Sports and Leadership League, which includes basketball, soccer and floor hockey, is the city’s only no-fee competitive program. Roughly 1,500 children are enrolled in the program, where all costs, including uniforms, referees and transportation between the clubhouses, are covered.
“It’s very competitive, very popular,” says Senators Foundation president Danielle Robinson. “Kids have even come out of there and received scholarships for postsecondary, which is pretty exciting. That’s the power of the Boys and Girls Club.”
The high demand for basketball — including waiting lists on Saturday nights — is also part of the reason why the Prince of Wales/Hogs Back clubhouse is currently undergoing a $3.8-million renovation to add a full-sized gym. An all-season outdoor rink is also being constructed.
That clubhouse has made a significant difference in keeping teenagers active and away from trouble in the Debra Dynes Park area, once notorious for drug trafficking and violence.
The Senators also help subsidize children who every summer attend Camp Smitty, near Eganville.
On this day, back at the MacArthur Avenue clubhouse, Joseph Korka-Waadah is full of enthusiasm as he talks about the pending basketball playoffs, wondering if he might walk away with a trophy.
Meanwhile, his sister, Yesua, sits at the piano and plays The Entertainer.
“I learned how to build confidence,” she says, when asked about the impact of attending the Boys and Girls Club. “I learned how to do math better. And reading . ... I play basketball, soccer, handball and football. And there was a rugby program, so we got to go on the bus to Ashbury and play a game. We had pizza at the end.”