‘Save Streetball’ event aims to make basketball more accessible

CHICAGO — At a community event in Avalon Park on Saturday, kids got the chance to play basketball on a public court, which is something they consider rare.

“By my grandma’s house they used to have a whole bunch of them and now they don’t anymore, they took them all down,” Isaiah Osborne said.

Children from across the city learned how to play the game and faced off in three-on-three matches during an event called “Save Street Ball, which was hosted by the nonprofit organization “My Block, My Hood, My City.”

The organization aims to make basketball more accessible and seeks to decriminalize the sport.

“People feel like basketball courts are magnets for violence, and if you take the rims down, the neighborhood will get safer. There is no proof, no correlation between violence and basketball,” Jahmal Cole, from My Block, My Hood, My City, said.

Cole said he has seen basketball rims removed from more than 200 parks, including the park where the event was hosted, so the organizations brought in portable rims for Saturday’s event.

Alongside the basketball workshop, the event featured a live DJ, food trucks, and giveaways.

Visit the My Block, My Hood, My City website for more information on the organization or the Save Streetball initiative.

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