Does Midnight Basketball Work? North Little Rock's does--Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Ball program’s leader sees net gain
BY KATHERINE MARKS ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

On Tami Dickerson’s basketball court, there are certain rules: Before tipoff, players must sweep the floors, someone has to zero out the scoreboard. Above all: If you miss the weekly speaker, don’t bother lacing up. Ms. Tami, as she’s affectionately called by the 12- to 18-year-olds who fill the court on Fridays and Saturdays for late-night hoops, doesn’t want to hear any excuses.

Dickerson is the program leader of the Late Night Intervention Midnight Basketball Program that runs year-round at North Little Rock’s Sherman Park Community Center. The program was started in 1992 as a way to get children off the streets and into a constructive environment on weekend nights.

While it never lives up to the midnight in its name, the teenagers in the program often play well past 10 p.m., a time when their parents could easily otherwise be worrying about them. Since Dickerson took the helm late last fall — she’s been involved with the program for eight years — she’s focused as much on the intervention aspect of the program as she has on the basketball.

Last week, a speaker talked to the adolescents about suicide prevention. Previous sessions have included speeches from military recruiters and youth ministry programs. Some have started with poetry readings or dance team demonstrations. "It’s about a lot more than just basketball, said Jeff Caplinger, program supervisor for the recreation division of North Little Rock Parks and Recreation.

Dickerson takes what she hears courtside — and she hears a lot — and tries to tailor the speakers to address the concerns of the children in the program. "The stories you hear, there are some tragedies."

The program cuts across demographics. Honor students from solid middle-class homes rub elbows with dropouts who have been in foster care. Dickerson does her best to help the children who are on the edge. "It’s so easy to get into trouble as opposed to get out of it," Dickerson said.

On a recent Friday, before the games began, Dickerson asked the 20 or so children gathered in the bleachers of the center’s small gymnasium to tell her something good that had happened to them that week. It is one of Dickerson’s ways of keeping her players upbeat.

One teenager told Dickerson his grade point average was 3.4; another said his family got cable; another said he went back to school on Monday. "No more suspensions this year," Dickerson replied matter-of-factly.

The North Little Rock Parks and Recreation Department pays Dickerson for 30 hours of work a week, but she often exceeds that. She also works full time as a pre-kindergarten teacher at Jacksonville Elementary. She just likes kids, she said.

Keenone Brown, 16, of North Little Rock described Dickerson as a second mom as he took a break from warm-up. She pushed him to get his General Educational Development diploma, checking on his progress weekly, Brown said. "She like kept me motivated to get my GED," he said.

Vincent Walls, 15, said he’s also preparing for the GED. He wants to be a writer and is quick to recite his poems from memory. He started Midnight Basketball in December after getting out of foster care. He said he’s having trouble with his mom right now and Dickerson knows that.

At a Mother’s Day event she singled him out. "She told me I’m going to make it. It put a smile on my face," Walls said. "I love my Tami." Later, he recited his latest poem to her. It’s called "Broken Heart." A few minutes later he was back in warm-up pulling down a rebound and then barely missing an outside shot. Dickerson watched, calling out from the sidelines: "You been robbed, son. ... He’s going to block the shot. ... They’re not letting you in the lane, K.C.!"

The crowd was small this particular Friday because of prom and a dance for younger students in North Little Rock. Most nights the courts are crammed and there’s been talk of expanding the program to other sports, other venues. But money is always tight, staffing short.

There have been grants in the past, but more recently the program has gotten by on less than $1,000 a session, excluding staff time. Volunteers are always in short supply. Each session is six weeks long, a big commitment for would-be volunteers, said Tina Worrell, recreation superintendent for the department.

The program is popular. Fifty-one children signed up for the most recent session. So far there’s been no need for a waiting list, because an average of 43 children show up each Friday and Saturday night, about the number of students the staff can manage without extra help.

Volunteers also provide some flexibility if more than 40 children show up at once, Worrell said.

Without volunteers, there could be a waiting list for the summer session, Worrell said. Stephen McElwee, 16, said at the recent Friday session that he’d heard there could be limited spots soon. "I hope they increase enrollment," said McElwee, a sophomore at Sylvan Hills in Jacksonville.

He used to play street ball just a few blocks away at the court that cuts under the interstate near Alltel Arena. Once a suspect in a police hunt, armed with a knife, came by the court, he said. He feels safer playing in the gymnasium. "It’s not street ball," he said of the game. "We have to play as a team."

McElwee plans to go to college. He was the student who bashfully told Dickerson of his 3.4 grade point average. He said he enjoys hearing from the recruiters from the military along with other presentations. "It’s good to hear about other opportunities like the Army and Navy," he said before heading back to the court. "I hope they keep coming."

This story was published Monday, May 23, 2005
Copyright © 2005, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.