Month: June 2023

By: Theresa Christine Etim

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash.

We are in the last week of June, but also the first weekend following the highly discussed NBA draft. And as we discussed, there are some unique talent this year who started from various backgrounds.

On Friday, we discussed the top five draft picks for 2023, and how they differed from other top fives in the drafts of the past, specifically how most of them did not come from college basketball teams.

We looked at number one draft pick French player Victor Wembanyama, number two draft pick Brandon Miller, number three pick Scoot Henderson, and pick four and five twins Amen and Ausar Thompson.

Four of those five had come from minor leagues to play for NBA this year.

But despite them all coming from different backgrounds, the common denominator is that they all started playing basketball by liking it. And not only did they like it, but they played it recreationally on a consistent basis.

Not everyone who plays recreational basketball, ends up actually pursuing basketball though.

But through these recreational programs, young players can acquire skills early on that can help them undertake a future and basketball professionally.

One of the most famous examples of this is Shaquille O’Neal, who has openly discussed his time with the Boys and Girls Club of America as a youth and how that led him to where he is today.

Photo by Jesse Orrico on Unsplash.

The boys and Girls Club of America is a organization that helps American youths all over the country acquire skills, hobbies, academic help and other skills through after school programs in local chapters within the 50 states.

Dealing with absentee birth father, O’Neill was vulnerable to street life, but with the guidance of his stepfather and help from the Boys and Girls Club, O’Neal stayed off the streets and found basketball by just shooting hoops, according to Parade.com.

“It gave me something to do,” he said. “I’d just go there to shoot. I didn’t even play on a team. It always gave me somewhere to come. I could do my homework there. It gave me a lot of opportunities.”

The same goes for Michael Jordan, who also got his start as the Boys and Girls Club. Both athletes look back fondly on their time at the Club through various philanthropic efforts like donating money, laptops, and creating clubs themselves. The Shaquille O’Neal boys and Girls Club is an example.

Finding a passion in basketball recreationally gave these youths-turned-icons an opportunity to not only express themselves, but an opportunity to focus and the ability to apply themselves to become great while building on that greatness.

Basketball might not be for everyone, but the skills acquired by recreational basketball through various clubs and organizations may very well prepare a young, interested youth down a path of not just professional basketball, but a career of greatness.

Photo by Austris Augusts on Unsplash.

By: Theresa Christine Etim

Basketball and other recreational sports are something that anyone at any age can enjoy. Toddlers and children, tweens and teens, adults and seniors; basketball and other sports are activities that can release, heal, and inspire. And it can bring multiple people together. As we can all use those things at any age, below are the types of recreational sports that are the most useful for specific age groups you may belong to.

Babies and Toddlers (Ages two to five)

Photo by Deborah Varrie on Unsplash.

Around the age of two to six, children can only start partaking in unstructured physical activity on somewhat of a consistent basis, so fortunately they can be added to the list at this point. But sports like running tumbling and swimming are the appropriate activities for children of this age group, as this is what their bodies can participate in so far.

Kids ages six to nine

Photo by Md Mahdi on Unsplash.

Kids around this age are more fundamentally developed than they are at the toddler stage, so they can take on more advanced activities. Activities such as running, football, tennis and martial arts can be added to the list of sports at these ages, as concentration and other skills start to develop and become usable.

Kids age 10 to teens age 18

Photo by Lars Bo Nielsen on Unsplash.

At this point, children and minors tend to have a more advanced coordination and understanding to participate in actual sports and sporting activities. Average complex sports are able to be played at this stage of youth, which allows for activities such as football, basketball, hockey, volleyball and other average sports to be played at recreational and minor competitive levels.

Adults (Ages 18+)

Photo by Braden Collum on Unsplash.

Much like older children in teams mentioned previously, adults can also partake in the same sports and activities, (football, basketball, baseball and etc.). At this point though, the activities not only are advanced but start to lean into possibilities of professional sports in minor and/or major leagues.

Seniors and Older Adults

Photo by Christina Deravedisian on Unsplash.

While reaching ages of retirement, seniors often scale back from sporting activities they partook in their youth, or they just don’t participate in them at all, as their bodies become more vulnerable to health issues while doing sports (sprains, joint pains, heart complications and etc.) These adults can and often choose lower impact sports such as pickleball, shuffleboard, bowling and golf, among others. On the other hand in this day and age, the health in senior adults has increased tremendously, as a result of more advance technology and methods in medicine. These healthy seniors are good to go and still routinely participate in previously mentioned regular sports recreationally.

So no matter what age you are, or what gets your heart pumping, recreational basketball and sports are among things that all ages can enjoy.

By: Theresa Christine Etim

Photo by Diane Picchiottino on Unsplash.

It’s draft pick time! And you know what that means.. new players for new teams with fresh opportunities.

Thursday, June 22 was the first day of the 2023 NBA Draft and while the summer solstice was the day before, the draft is what everyone is talking about.

What’s garnering attention, is the fact that the NBA drafted its first set of twins at the same time. But what’s specifically being discussed is that top five players were picked and four of those individuals came from non-college, rec or minor league teams.

Photo by Hannah Gibbs on Unsplash.

What makes this so peculiar is that draft picks are expected to-and usually come from-top college basketball teams. Shaquille O’Neal and Michael Jordan are prime examples.

So as you can see, the college-level talent expectations are high.

But this year is special.

The 2023 drafts first pick sees 7’2 French player Victor Wembanyama, joining the San Antonio Spurs after playing for the French national team at youth level.

Scoot Henderson was the NBA’s third pick after playing for the NBA G League Ignite, a developmental basketball team in the NBA G League that helps young players develop their skills for NBA prospects.

But it’s the next two players who are getting people talking.

Picks four and five twins Amen and Ausar Thompson are two players that were not only born one after the other, but drafted the same way after only playing for Overtime Elite, a league of teams for teens and young adults that also assist players for professional basketball preparation.

Amen will play for the Houston Rockets and Ausar for the Detroit Pistons, who the latter teams General Manager Troy Weaver sees as a special talent depsite such a unique story according to KGET.com.

“When you see somebody elite, you know it,” he said.

The only exception is missing draft pick number two’s Brandon Miller, who played for the University of Alabama’s Division I basketball team, Alabama Crimson Tide, leaving an impressive tenure as a top player on that team as well.

While lots of top draft picks come from colleges around the US as top athletes of those teams, 2023’s draft pick teaches the NBA and it’s fans that not all athletes are cut from that same cloth. And by the looks of some of the promise and special talent of this year’s draft, that might be a good thing.

By: Theresa Christine Etim

What occurred this past Wednesday was nothing slight of an in depth glimpse of sports journalism when a St. Bonaventure Masterclass was held with Buffalo Bills reporter Ryan Talbot as its guest on June 14.

Led by Sports Journalism Professor Brian Moritz, the master class touched on many topics and also included Q&A’s led by the students sprinkled throughout the presentation. Moritz set the tone for the in depth conversation for Talbot, who is the Bills’ Syaracuse.com team contributor, by asking him for a quick run down of what his daily life consists of.

“Right now, I’m a Buffalo Bills, beat reporter for Syracuse.com and newyorkupstate.com, both through advanced media,” he said.
“In addition to the writing responsibilities of being a upbeat reporter, we also do a podcast that’s really taken off over the last few years.”

Moritz also asked for a rundown of current events, such as the Bills’ Mini Camp Week. While Talbot was able to give a fair recollection of his time there, he maintained that secrecy surrounding the camp was required.

“So the NFL and the Bills specifically, they have a lot of specific rules you must follow,” he said. “You can report that at a certain time you can take photos and videos and certain sessions, and then there’s parts where you just cannot report anything. I’m not allowed to say who’s lining up with the first team on the offensive line. For instance, you’re not allowed to talk about how they’re lined up and how they’re using certain players. It’s very tight-lipped there.”

James Peacock, a master’s journalism student at St. Bonaventure, then wondered at what point could certain information be revealed. When asked, Talbot revealed that while the rules on this are strict, they can also be a bit tricky, and said there were different rules for fans as opposed to reporters.

He recalled taking notes on what he was allowed to say and shared he noticed that fans attending the camps could tweet just about whatever they wanted.

“So we’re standing there on the track, and we’re taking notes for what we can report after the fact; we still can’t say who’s starting where and all this stuff,” he said. “But if you’re a fan sitting in the bleachers, you can be on your phone tweeting things out instantaneously, saying, ‘Hey, here’s the starting offensive line.’ There’s definitely things that don’t make sense to us from our perspective, the media’s perspective. But it’s the team rules. You have to follow it to a T and if you don’t follow it to a T, you can lose your credentials. You can lose your press spot, so you need to follow those rules.”

He also gave an example, citing the suspension of Bills team reporter Chris Brown when he disclosed unallowed information.

Talbot also shared that not only are there rules to adhere to, but there’s time commitments to adhere to as well, when asked by Julia Rowland, another student.

“There’s radio spots where they’re giving you days notice, hours notice, and you have to put aside about 20 to 25 minutes for a radio [spot],” he said. “Then, I’m doing a podcast our own podcast two or three times a week, and that’s anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half per appearance that’s guest appearances on other podcasts. But you’re always traveling, so there’s perks to that.”

According to talbot, a position like his assures him travels with the team. The camp was used as an example, as he and other members of the press were given dorms at the college where the camp was held. A bigger scaled example was an upcoming one. The Bills will be going to London, which will require Talbot to go to London as well. He and a work colegue are currently trying to plan to visit shooting locations of the famous show Ted Lasso while there.

But overall, Talbot ensures to the students that the most important part about being a blogger, is that you have to be unique and continually skilled. And while podcasts have changed the game for reporting, you still have to be a great writer at the end of the day.

“You’re going to see a story that everyone is writing, but yours has to be unique,” he said. “Learn SEO and not clickbait. Learn how to make someone curious. There are a lot of perks to podcasting [like engagement]. But there’s other stories to cover that we try to hit up in the written form app, and our talking points come from what we choose to write about. So I still think that writing is very important.”

Talbot’s work can be read on Syracuse.com and newyorkupstate.com.

By: Theresa Christine Etim

It safe to say basketball, one of the oldest professional sports in the world, creates a lot buzz in the world of sports. Whether it’s topics of gamemanship, specific game turnouts, or even the colorful personalities behind the sport (we’re looking at you Dennis Rodman), much can be said about the world of professional basketball, but what about recreational teams? The every day average joes who play the sport as well (sometimes just as well)?

Well whether you’re playing on a recreational team, or maybe you’re just interested in doing so, here are the top three benefits to playing recreational basketball.

Health

One of the top reasons recreational basketball can be pretty beneficial is because it’s just plain good for your health. The National Library of Medicine have cited studies that prove that recreational exercise can help with insomnia, can combat health issues contributed by obesity, and slew of other health issues. Not only that, but it helps with pain relief and aids in a better mental health by relieving stress.

Emotions

Also, recreational sports, like basketball can just downright make you feel good. The exercise from it can make participating individuals feel good about themselves, boost their confidence, give them joy and just give an overall great satisfaction about their life. Who wouldn’t want that?

Family

That’s right, family relationships are vastly improved by recreational sports as well, who would’ve known? The Library also says that families that engage in recreational sports will not only improve the family’s dynamic, but makes it closer. Additionally, this can stimulate positive conversation surrounding the recreational sport activities among the families at down times like family dinners and long drives that can promote harmony and a positive atmosphere.

So whether you’re a big league baller, a rec league player or you just like playing with your friends and family, recreational basketball can provide something that not only keeps you out of trouble, but can also provide something good for all of us.

By: Theresa Christine Etim

Despite the last call for registration for central Houston’s 5v5 men’s basketball league being for June 12, the league is still seeking members.

What was thought as the Lutheran High North Community Center-based league drawing registration to a close, apparently interested individuals and teams can still join online, with the late registration fees being $945 per team and $135 per person.

While this registration has been extended, individuals and teams can still register with the original registration price ($845 for teams, $105 for individuals) if they are signed up before the aforementioned new late registration period (June 29 to August 4).

The individuals will still be put in teams of eight with five playing at a time on the court.

For more information or to sign up for the league, visit https://sportskind.com/houston/sign-up/ to register.

By: Theresa Christine Etim

When it comes to professional sports, it might be expected that the country’s top players might have come from some of the country’s top teams and divisions, but that’s not entirely true. Whether you aspire to play pro sports, are a sports fan, or just love a good come up, below, are a list of professional sports players who had their start in recreational or non-professional teams.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ Jim Morris

Morris’ story is one of those rare ones that can qualify as tearjerker according to Bleacher Report. The now-renowned baseball player started off as any young man did, but only ended up fairing out in minor league baseball. Once that ended, he decided to leave and become a high school teacher and baseball coach, but was strongly influenced by his students to not give up and tryout of the major leagues. He did, and became a major league superstar for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at the age of 35. Ah yes, a tearjerker indeed. And apparently Disney thought so too, as the movie The Rookie is based off of his life.

Arizona Diamondbacks’ David Peralta

Plagued by two shoulder injuries that delayed his career, there wasn’t much else for Peralta to do than to work at McDonalds while playing at Rio Grande Valley’s Independent North American Baseball League, where he was learning outfield. Fast-forward to 2014 and he gets signed by the Diamondbacks only to get a promotion and enact career-defining plays just a year later. Now that’s determination.

Boston Bruins’ Tim Thomas

Much like Peralta, “good thing come to those who wait” can also be applied to Boston Bruins’ Tim Thomas, who spent a decade clawing through different leagues, only to play a mere four games with the Bruins and leave for Finland. At 31, he came back to the Bruins only to win an MVP award a few years later at 36 and help the Bruins win the Stanley World Cup that same year. A short but impactful career indefinitely.

Some of have a clear path set for our lives and some of us don’t, but this list defiantly proves that sometimes, the road less traveled can turn out to be a good thing.

By: Theresa Christine Etim

Today is the last call for registration for central Houston’s 5v5 men’s basketball league, as the cut off is tomorrow, June 12.

While the Lutheran High North Community Center-based league is drawing registration near a close, prospective members can join online at anytime within the next day, as late registration fees are $945 per team and $135 per person.

The league begins playing this upcoming Wednesday, June 14 and can expect teams of no more than eight individuals with five playing at a time.

The league includes 7 games with playoffs and championship prizes, as well as 10 shirts per team with $10 for additional shirts.

Visit https://sportskind.com/houston/sign-up/ to register.

By: Theresa Christine Etim

The Summer 2023 5V5 Men’s Basketball league is starting their new season next Wednesday and are looking new local talent to start a new leage. The recreational and corporate level team are readying to play for their upcoming summer season as they officially close registration next Monday, June 12. The team begins playing next mid-week on Wednesday, June 14 and are looking for men in the Houston area aged 21 and up. Interested individuals and register teams or as individual players. For more information on how to join, you can visit https://sportskind.com/houston/programs/upcoming-wednesday-basketball-lhn/.

By: Theresa Christine Etim

The basketball league will be playing its games at Lutheran High North Community Center in central Houston while offering a competitive edge for inspired local players.

The Community Center, a central Houston staple for decades, will be the playing house for the competitive recreational-corporate league.

Located on 3425 Alba Rd, the Community Center is home to many recreational events both competitive and non competitive, but will be open to the competitive 5 by 5 league for future games. Interested individuals should make sure that they have transportation and drinks and decide if they want to play as a solo player or sign up with an entire team.