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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

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'Peace on da Streets' By SPORTS WRITER ~ For the Guardian: The Hope Center and Youth Against Violence (YAV) is set to stage its 15th Annual Nelson Cooper 'Peace on da Streets' Basketball Classic. The classic, which was started in 1995 and was first named the National Park League Championships, will be held from July 22–25. The name was changed to the Nelson Cooper 'Peace on da Streets' Basketball Classic in 1996. The late Nelson Cooper was a leader of a gang called the Border Boys. He gave his life to the Lord and went into the Mason Addition community to encourage other gang members to stop the violence. He was shot the night he entered that same community and died a week later. This basketball tournament is an effort to continue the work of Nelson Cooper and YAV to bring peace to the streets of New Providence. "Most of the persons killed this year were young people under the age of 25 and most of those charged for these same murders were also juveniles under the age of 25. So far for 2009, there have been over 34 reported murders," said tournament organizer Carlos Reid through an e-mail. "Youth Against Violence continues to be at the forefront in the fight against crime and violence. We refuse to put our heads in the sand and pretend as if we don't have a problem. We will continue our commitment to provide positive alternatives for the youth of our nation and abroad," he added. The Nelson Cooper Basketball Classic will consist of five different divisions - 18 & Under, 16 & Under, Church Division, Open Division and for the first time ever, a Celebrity Division. This celebrity division will be comprised of radio personalities and entertainers. "So far we have a commitment from the ZNS team, The Tribune, 100 Jamz and a team of entertainers led by radio host 'Naughty'," continued Reid. "This year's Celebrity Division will be in honor of Anthony 'Fat Back' Marshall who recently passed away. We would like to honor him for the work that he has done over the years helping the youth of our nation." A Family Night is also planned this year, and will take place on Saturday July 25 starting at 5:00 p.m. That night will feature the championship games, the Slam Dunk contest, the three-point shoot-out along with a special celebrity game featuring Members of Parliament playing against some of the local pastors. Last year, the pastors won this game but the Members of Parliament have vowed to revenge their loss. All games will be played at the Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium beginning at 6:00 p.m. from July 22-24. The games that Saturday will begin at 9:00 a.m. and last until the tournament ends. "Again, we will be giving out a number of great door prizes including round-trip tickets for two courtesy of Bahamasair. We'll also be giving away some cell phones and phone cards courtesy of BTC along with other great prizes. This year's tournament promises to be competitive as well as exciting," continued Reid. "We have a team coming from California in our Open Division as well as a team from Freeport joining our 16 & Under Division. Again, we expect a number of our Bahamian college players to play this summer as this event has become an elite basketball tournament in The Bahamas. Our classic has become the most highly anticipated summer event in New Providence and over the past several years we have attracted some college coaches from the U.S. who come down with the hopes of offering scholarships to some of our young players. "We would like to thank the public for supporting us over the years and we look forward to your continued support. We would also like to thank our sponsors, without whom this event would not be possible. Our sponsors include Furniture Plus who has been with us since our inception. We would also like to thank Minister Desmond Bannister and the Ministry of Youth and Sports for allowing us the use of the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium. We thank More FM and Spirit 92.5 for joining our team along with Family Guardian, Scotia Bank, Basil Ingraham & Co., J.S. Johnson, Purity Bakery, Chilly Willy, Original Patties, Nassau Paper Company, JMEL, First Caribbean Bank, KLG Investments Ltd., KFC, Thompson Trading, Commonwealth Bank, Royal Star Assurance, Coca-Cola, Prince Lock & Key, Commissioner of Police and Dunkin Donuts. We encourage everyone out there to come out and support this event – our children need you," he added. Tuesday, July 7, 2009