Calgary free basketball program for lower-income families

A school gym in Forest Lawn is offering free basketball as part of a program to help lower-income families.

The Youth Empowerment and Skills Centre (YES! Centre) started Free Friday Basketball (FFB) to break road blocks for children that may be vulnerable or at risk.

Gar Gar, founder of FFB, says the program builds future athletes.

“Some of them might be Raptors playing in the division, but they know that the first ball that they throw was here in Forest Lawn,” Gar said.

“Working with the youth in the community last year really motivated me to try and help uplift us,” added olunteer coach Lim Thokbuom. “Because a lot of issues that are going on in the South Sudanese community have to do with guns and gun violence, but a lot of it just comes to a lot of kids not feeling like they are listened to or heard.

“So, just us even doing this… is showing them that we’re listening.”

Aeal is a participant in the program. She was at the gym with her three brothers and her dad.

“I would really like if there were more girls here, but I really appreciate that I actually get a chance to play,” she said.

“I decide to because …  it leaves the children to be busy, I don’t want them to stay at home.”

Gar’s goal is to continue and expand the program through looking for opportunities to collaborate more with the city and school boards to rent gym space for the program.

“The program is grass roots. We try to put it through by donations from, for example, individuals. The balls were donated by SAIT, when they lost (the campus) the Trojans, but they go directly to good programs like this. So, every donation that we got is the one that makes it possible,” Gar said.

If you want to help FFB, donations will be accepted to go towards items like snacks for the kids or proper shoes to play in.

Gar says they hope to get donations to hire a league coach, or a professional coach in Calgary to donate time.