Medford’s low-stakes recreational basketball league fosters community, skills, teamwork under one net

By Crystal Yormick | Correspondent

Medford’s newly rebranded recreational basketball league — “Hoops & Heroes” — is bringing the city, basketball players and Medford police together under one net.

Building confidence, basketball skills and curiosity along with giving kids a positive outlet and providing them with strong role models are all goals of the program, organizers said.

The league started its season April 26 and is available for third graders to eighth graders of all experience levels. It is an expansion from the Medford Recreation’s basketball league, which began last year, and an extension of the basketball clinics the organization holds throughout the year.

This year the league involves the Medford Police Department for the first time. Five to six officers so far are attending sessions and coaching, and the department donated jerseys to the league.

This collaboration helps Medford police foster relationships with the kids and creates a smaller kid-to-coaching staff ratio, said Christine Feeley, program manager for Medford Recreation.

“It’s great to have the Police Department involved hands on with the community in this way, and then there’s just more hands on with the league itself,” Feeley said.

The league is separated into two groups: third through fifth graders and sixth through eighth graders. The sessions start with 30 to 40 minutes of skill work before the kids are separated into teams and start playing against each other, said co-director and coach John Skerry. Teams are coed, and the rosters will change each week, he added.

“We didn’t want kids getting up in the overall record [and thinking], ‘Oh, my team’s good or my team’s not good,’” Skerry said. “By switching up teams every week, you can still have that level of competition, but I want to see improvement more than wins and losses.”

Each group meets for nearly two hours every week on Sundays and will do so until June 14 at the recently redone Tufts Park. The younger group meets for the first half before it is replaced with the older squad.

Playing in the league costs $125 for residents and nonresidents. Some of the league’s organizers said they hope to erase this cost by finding sponsorships.

Skerry said he wants Hoops & Heroes to create a space for players who want to play basketball in a local environment that’s not ultra-competitive and expensive.

“I just want to make sure a kid doesn’t like basketball less at the end of a clinic than when it started,” he said.

Catherine Connor, whose two sons participate, said the low-pressure environment and locality of the league are part of the reason she signed her kids up. The timing and location works with her and her husband’s work schedules, and her kids have learned to become team players.

“It’s not about just winning and losing, which is a hard lesson for kids,” Connor said. “This is for fun. [They’re] getting to just enjoy [basketball] rather than being like, ‘Oh my God, we lost.’”

Police officer Zachary Pierre said teamwork is a priority. He said he hopes the Police Department’s participation will help kids to see police officers as approachable friends and mentors.

Skerry said the involvement will hopefully show kids a potential career path and way to give back to the community.

“I want everybody to know that the best way to serve their communities isn’t just through enforcement,” said Pierre, who serves as a coach for the league and helps with various program needs. “It is through connection, mentorship and showing up for the next generation.”

While his own kids are either too old or too young for the program, he said he is involved because he wants kids to have the opportunity to grow and have fun playing basketball. He loves the sport and grew up playing through high school.

Skerry, who captained the Tufts University in college and has been involved with several Medford basketball initiatives for years, echoed this.

“The coaches you can tell just actually love the sport and actually love teaching it,” Connor said.

Connor said she would love to see more intramural sports options in the city. Her older son, Joey, said his favorite part of the program is the coaches and added he wants to keep playing basketball and working on his shooting.

“I’ve had a lot of fun,” Joey Connor said. “I’ve gone there for the past three clinics they’ve done. [They have] great coaches. I’ve gotten a lot better at basketball since I joined.”

All games and practices are internal, but Pierre, Feeley and Skerry said they hope to expand the league to include more participants and eventually compete with other leagues in nearby towns. Skerry said he would love to eventually get high school students involved by hosting a weekend tournament or league for them.

“I want them to be confident in this, and [know] you still have a lot to learn,” Pierre said, referring to the participating kids. “You will get there. You’re not Jason Tatum yet, but you’ll be there.”

Crystal Yormick is a journalism student at Boston University. This story is part of a partnership between Gotta Know Medford and the Boston University Department of Journalism.