Wilmington Police officers have found their common ground between law enforcement and kids—the basketball court.
Wilmington Police officer Brandon Reece coordinates the department’s Police Athletic League (PAL), which is a gang resistance and awareness program that uses basketball as a tool to build a bond between local law enforcement officers and local children.
The children are ones officers would interact with on a daily basis, either in school or within the community, Reece said.
The basketball games are played at the Brigade Boys and Girls Club and the Community Boys and Girls Club.
“The coach and player dynamic is a much stronger bond than just an officer meeting a young man or woman on the street or in a different setting,” Reece said.
In its seventh year, the program continues to grow each year. While the athletic league operates in multiple facilities, the program has a partnership with the Brigade Boys and Girls Club as well as the Community Boys and Girls Club.
Tanabarn “Sammi” Sangsawangwatana, 12, has been in the PAL program for about three years. He plays forward and center for the PAL blue team.
“It’s been great! [The officers] really teach us how to run drills and get us ready for an actual game. Teach us how to do more teamwork…they tell you how to talk to each other on the floor. My team is a really good, like teamwork team. We pass about five times every play we do,” Sammi said.
Basketball is one of Sammi’s favorite sports and he said he’s planning on playing basketball in high school. He said his mother is very supportive of the program and comes to almost every game.
“PAL hoops has really helped me a lot with like school and family ‘cause it helps me catch up with a lot of stuff and do more teamwork with other kids in class.
“I used to be like sort of mean sometimes. Because if people would like try and bully me I would have done something back. Now they tell me to do more stuff,” Sammi said.
Instead of fighting back, Sammi now tells an adult.
“[The coaches] really help us more with team work and bonding than anything else,” Sammi said.
“You don’t have to know a lot about basketball. This is about getting together and having a common bond over something…basketball is the one sport that no matter what your ability is, you can grow as an individual and help your team. So that’s why it’s kind of a nice meld in there,” Reece said.
“Sammi is a great example of that. He’s become a fantastic basketball player and a great athlete at the same time because he has put in the work at it but he’s got a great attitude…that’s the reason he has gotten to where he is now.”
Jaheim Marshall, 11, started in the PAL program when he was 9 years old, but moved to Raleigh for a year. When he returned to Wilmington, he and his mother made sure he joined the program again. Reece was able able to stay in contact and get Jaheim back in the program when he returned.
Through working in the program, Reece said Jaheim is developing his maturity while he plays.
“It’s fun and you get to hang out with [the officers.] It would be cool if they did come in with their suit…my coach came in with her suit on and we got to see what she had on and stuff,” Jaheim said.
Jaheim now feels more comfortable talking to police officers off the court.
“If we get complaints from parents, teachers or anything else, they lose game time,” Reece said. “We ask a lot out of them…we’re trying to hold them accountable to be positive individuals, not just athletes [and] basketball players.”
Officers go into the boys and girls clubs to run and operate the programs after school. There are 4 teams at each facility with 10 kids on each team. Every coaching staff has at least one officer.
“It’s nice because the Wilmington Police Department is really investing into the community and it’s really needed. The police department supplies the officers and we give them the space and kids,” Angie Hill, development director for the Brigade Boys and Girls Club, said.
The kids pay nothing to be in the PAL program—just $10 a year to use the facility—and sometimes the Brigade Boys and Girls Club will sponsor kids in the program.
“We make sure we keep the cost reasonable,” Hill said.
Kids must sign a “commitment to excellence” contract that says they cannot do anything that is deemed detrimental to themselves, their future, academics, parents or the program, Reece said.
“It builds that relationship, builds that connection between the officer and the kids because they get to share a bond over athletics instead of just the officer or somebody they meet on the street, whether or not we deal with them at the schools or somewhere else,” Reece said.
Click here for more information about the Wilmington Police Department’s Police Athletic League.
