Kevin Pelton, SUPERSONICS.COM | March 16, 2007
When he appeared Friday at the Skyway Boys & Girls Club to kick off the "Full Court Press" donation made possible by the Ray of Hope Foundation and corporate sponsors, basketball brought
Ray Allen back where he started. While following his father, who was in the military, around the country, Allen honed his game on courts at similar clubs.
"I wasn't specifically a member of the Boys & Girls Club," Allen recalled after the presentation. "I grew up in the military, but this same environment was available for me.
"We had a court where the hoops were a little bit lower and we would go every Saturday. We knew their rules. You had to pay $1 to get inside on the court. There was lunch. There was a director, a lady who ran all the programs. There were arcade games. We had a swimming pool.
Allen
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"It was almost like being babysat by the community. They knew all the kids there, they knew all my brothers and sisters; my parents always knew where we were. We had games on the weekends. We knew all the parents, we knew all the families, one of the parents was probably a coach. I feel like I was privileged to grow up in this type of environment because we had people who cared."
Now, Allen has leveraged his role as an NBA superstar to become one of those people who care. The $40,000 donation presented to the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County will fund a program at eight Boys & Girls Clubs, including the Skyway location, to help kids in middle school who are ineligible to play for their school teams because of academics or behavioral problems. By completing homework assignments, these students become eligible to participate in organized basketball clinics, scrimmages and leagues while also receiving help for the classroom.
Boys & Girls Clubs of King County President and CEO Daniel Johnson spoke to the importance of the program during the presentation.
"It's all about finding hooks," he explained. "For some, that's a computer lab. For most of our kids, that hook is basketball. This $40,000 allows us to spread our basketball program to every club."
"It brings me great joy to know we've been able to do what we've been able to do," Allen said during his speech.
The Full Court Press program is the latest step in Allen's involvement with the Boys & Girls Clubs, which dates back to his dates at the University of Connecticut and includes his time in Milwaukee and here in Seattle.
"Mostly they've been kids programs," said Allen. "We've taken kids out of the Boys & Girls Club and had them work in offices of mine for the foundation. Anything that has to do with uplifting and enhancing young peoples' lives, that's pretty much been my focus."
Allen's visit wasn't all business. He also took time to answer questions from selected Boys & Girls Club members (his favorite player to play against: Kobe Bryant) and fed the kids for layup lines on the court after the presentation. Before leaving, he gathered everyone together for a huddle that concluded with a cheer of "Sonics!"
During his speech, Allen also mentioned the new proposed King County Events Center which would bring the Sonics to Renton, saying, "I think one day all of us might be neighbors" - to a loud round of applause.
"We embrace all the communities in the Seattle area," he said afterwards, "but we'll have a lot more impact here if we move here."
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