On Staten Island, there is no place where you can send a young person to actually learn how to play basketball,” said Craig Raucher. “No place that will teach you how to dribble, how to shoot, how to pass or how to rebound. No place exists on the Island to teach you how to warm up, how to stretch or how to work out. There are expensive private tutors but that is a one-on-one situation and basketball is a team game.
“If a parent puts their child on a church team or in a YMCA or JCC league and that child does not know how to play basketball, it becomes a very embarrassing and negative experience with far-reaching effects. The child may play only a few minutes per game and when they actually get on the court, they are embarrassed and other kids make fun of them. This negative experience generally has far-reaching consequences where that child develops low self-esteem and loses confidence. Therefore, when basketball becomes an enjoyable and enriching experience it has the opposite effect on a child especially during their formative years. Basketball in a team setting is a metaphor for building life skills: teamwork, interaction, friendship, communication and a common goal. All of life’s key building block skills in a positive enriching environment.”
