BOYS BASKETBALL

 

O’Brien: Coaches United Against Violence takes promising first step



Westinghouse coach Billy Curry at the podium.

Michael O'Brien

April 30 6:02 p.m.

Near the end of the Coaches United Against Violence press conference on Thursday at Breakthrough on the West Side, Von Steuben coach Vince Carter took a quick poll.

“Raise your hand if you know someone that has been murdered in Chicago,” said Carter.

More than 100 people involved in Chicago high school basketball were in attendance: coaches, players, refs and media. Nearly everyone in the room raised a hand.

So while it was former Marshall player Tim Triplett’s violent death on Sunday that prompted the creation of Coaches United Against Violence, that tragedy is just the latest to rock the city’s basketball community.

Coaches United Against Violence started with a group of West Side coaches, but quickly spread throughout the city. More than 18 coaches were on hand on Thursday, representing all corners of the city.

“We have all had players fall victim to the violence,” said Vocational coach Chris Pickett. “It is not an isolated issue.”

“All the coaches here have stories where they know a kid could have been saved if he was involved in something productive.”

The group announced the first steps it is taking to combat violence: a poster campaign in May, a basketball summer league in June and an early morning fitness program in July.

Former Westinghouse star Jimmy Sanders, now a referee, talked about his West Side neighborhood.

“When I walk through my neighborhood I see 20 kids standing on the corner with nothing to do,” said Sanders.

Simeon coach Robert Smith spoke about the mixed emotions he’s had traveling around the country with his team the past few years. He’s proud of the high-quality basketball Chicago is known for while at the same time embarrassed for the violent reputation the city has earned.

“It hurts me to see where we have reached, what we have become now in the city of Chicago,” said Smith. “It just hurts my heart to see the senseless violence in our city.”

The tone of the meeting was hopeful and honest. Marshall girls basketball coach Dorothy Gaters bluntly challenged the coaches in attendance to do a better job “respecting each other.”

“If the coaches can learn to respect each other more perhaps we can give the players more focus,” said Gaters.

North Lawndale junior Tyrone Rhivers addressed the post-game brawl between his team and Marshall that marred a sectional semifinal playoff game.

“I’ve seen a lot of violence,” said Rhivers. “I know we had the big incident with Marshall but we just want peace right now.”

Overall it was an impressive show of solidarity by most of the upper-echelon Public League basketball coaches. Coaches United Against Violence has all the ingredients necessary to make a real difference and it was promising that the group was able to announce actual concrete programs just days after being formed. There is no doubt that anything the coaches can do to give teenagers productive things to do will improve the situation.

It’s disappointing that the group didn’t receive support from any major players in the city. Mayor Rahm Emanuel was at the NFL Draft. There weren’t any members of the Chicago Public Schools administration in attendance. You would think any event for a cause this important, literally stopping the violent death of hundreds of teenagers per year, would garner more respect from the people that run the city and the school system.