My man Barry “Slice” Rohrssen, Head Coach of Manhattan College, asked me about a run for the winter months in New York City for a kid who is about to get sliced from his team. I often think about kids like that who don’t get put down. Getting cut can be a pointing the finger at everyone but yourself experience. But guys like Slice know how to make something disappointing into another opportunity for light. Fortunately for the slicee, Slice has card blanche with the playground, often donating gym space to non-profits, grassroots, and community league basketball organizations to give the shorties the big arena feel. So as I do, reaching out for the kids on the fringes to offer some “game-up.”
Sean In\fin has “game-up” and light for the Slicee’s
Game-up is skill training. I got two kids right now on it. One is at Molloy and his try-out starts Saturday while my other man is at Holy Cross and getting started today. Their try-outs are this week so I’m looking for them to not get sliced. Getting sliced though isn’t the end, its just leads to another door of opportunity. That opportunity is more game-up with the New York City playground circuit. So for my man up at Manhattan… check this list of winter tournament spots to ball out and get ready for the next time around.
Du&Dog Invitational
Springfield HS Gym
Springfield Blvd 144th Ave, the Q
November-February Weekends 12-6
commish: Coach Ken Du of TNP
contact: 718.527.9622
Jumpball at JHS 113
300 Adelphi Street, BK
November-January
commish: Rick Rivers
718.302.9510
Brother’s United
Riverbank State Park
145th Street - Harlem
commish: Travis Berry
212.694.3637
November 3rd, 2007 at 12:30 am
CCB says:
That’s love right there. I was a head coach in San Diego and while I never fielded the most talented squads, I still had to cut guys for one reason or another. Once I started with this website stuff I thought hard about it and I partnered up with a guy here in Memphis and I will outfit a league for 15-19 year olds who either were cut, from their high school team, new coach, new players situation, kid just isn’t feeling his high school coach or just a guy who went to a high school and the team was picked a year ago.
I think every person in every city should start a similar league. Our league will run for ten games every Saturday night 60 kids, 6 teams and the league will have a playoff. We named the league the Prep Basketball League. At the end of the season maybe if enough squads get involved in other cities we can have a major tourney with the PBL champions.
Anyway, Couch, much respect for pubbing up the kids who still have that urge but fell a little short. Keep up the great work on the magazine. I am working on a banner for my network of websites and I will post it to drive traffic to Bounce, I’m a huge fan and I can’t wait to get the Kemba issue.
November 3rd, 2007 at 1:23 am
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
ayo word is bond, let me share a quick story . . .
i was cut three years in a row from little D3 Liberal Arts No Scholarship giving Wesleyan University. I never lost my love of the game, though. the spring between my junior and senior year, i was running fulls at Goat Park. It was there, on an unforgettable day, that Ray Diaz (now the Nike Pro City Tournament Director, then a recently retired PR pro) saw me hitting jumper after jumper after jumper bong bong status. He approached me and said he was gonna recommend me to play for the Arecibo Capitanes of the Superior Pro League in Puerto Rico. That’s right. i was scouted straight off a playground, and Ray’s word was so strong they signed me without ever giving me a work-out (helped that they were bottom of the division desperate for a point).
So to all you “Slicees,” you never know what can happen. i went and made varsity my senior year and got no burn, but now i’m 41 and still loving the game like i was 19. no coach who didn’t recognize my passion could ever take that away from me. don’t let them do it to you . . .
love and basketball,
bobbito garcia aka kool bob love
November 3rd, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Sean Couch says:
CCB please hit us with some photos and some good stories
about your league. Memphis has ballers for sure and we need to know more about what’s going down in the South.
I respect all the ones who get up off the mat and rise in the face of disappointment. That’s why I got mad love for Bobbito and Jess Water for coming at me just when I feeling “cut” from ball in the city as crazy as that sounds. Every day we work to make Bounce real to the populace and your response is like sunshine on a rainy B. Much love.
November 5th, 2007 at 12:10 am
CCB says:
kool bob love, and sean couch,
(Hand on the chest) Much respect. I always intend to send you guys pics of stuff but I work so hard on building up this grassroots thing here in the south that I basically end up doing the websites and that is it. Right now, I’m webmaster for the SHO-SHOT site, CCB, 901prepscoop and I just picked up Mid-South Prep Hoops in this thing I’m calling the CCB Network. My goal ultimately is to create a different avenue that makes scouting and recruitment actually look like the kids playing. In other words, it’s amazing to me that the cats that run high school hoops are neither Boricua or Morena and nine times out of ten the cats don’t play any ball! (I;m talking the unofficial major hoops news sites)
But I admire what you are doing and in a way I have been kind of biting your style since the little mags I got from Bobbito a couple of years back.
Anyway I will definitely do a better job of hitting you guys with mail. Keep up the great work and keep inspiring. kool bob I went to the gym on Friday morning had the whole joint to myself. Did some wind sprints and shot like 500 shots. It was great. I feel like Eddie Kane from the Five Heartbeats (I still got it.) Peace and much love.
Oh, PS I made a little ad rotator to send some Southern Traffic your way. It’s on the homepage of the www.centercourtbasketball.com website.
November 5th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Sean Couch says:
CCB —
Great looking site. Look forward to talking to you
some mo…
Couch…playground