By Sonya Hollins, editor
You may know that Kalamazoo has turned out some of the nation’s best athletes with such standouts as the Yankee’s Derek Jeter, the Green Bay Packers’ Greg Jennings and Seattle Seahawks’ T.J. Duckett. However, did you know some local men have coached for teams like the Lakers, Bullets and Spurs?
John Zackery coached for the Lakers, Buddy Hannah coached the Bullets and Ed Parham coached the Spurs. Well, o.k., maybe not THE Lakers, Bullet and Spurs, but they were instrumental in coaching the local teams with the same name who were part of the Youth Basketball League in Kalamazoo.
“These guys are instrumental in creating many of the famous athletes we have today, “said O’Neal Ollie, program director for the Douglass Community Association.
Ollie will honor the men who helped found Youth Basketball League during a special dinner on Sunday, June 26. Former YBL players also will attend to recognize the men for decades of volunteer service, which helped produce some of the nation’s finest athletes.
The dinner will follow a Hoopsters YBL Reunion Games at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, June 26, at the Douglass Community Center, 1000 W. Paterson St. Hoopsters players from the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s will compete to raise funds for the Douglass Community Association summer programs.
Ollie also is the coordinator of the annual Kalamazoo’s Finest Celebrity Softball games to be held at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 27 at Mayor’s Riverfront Park.
Youth Basketball League, known as YBL by many, began in 1970 as a program of the Hoopsters’ Classic Association. According to O’Neal, the club was founded by Alex Walker, Mike Williams and Andre’ Baraka. He said the men worked or volunteered for the YMCA, Boy Scouts and Lincoln Elementary School; thus the name YBL was founded for the initials of each organization.
The founders wanted to provide a ‘top flight’ competition in a tournament format, according to its league 198-81 program booklet. Proceeds from the games benefited Northside organizations such as Northside Little League, Northside Association for Educational Advancement and the Community Schools Program. In 1973, the group became a non-profit organization to support youth recreation and help in the building of a modern multi-purpose recreational facility.
“We really wanted to see the new Douglass (current facility) built here on the Northside,” said Walter Hall, one of the association founders. “We did it. We had no idea the league would be around this long and have the impact it has.”
Today dozens of youth programs are held at the Douglass Community Association due to the diligence of men such as Hall who served as president of the association. In the association’s 1980-81 program booklet it list officers in addition to Hall to include Arthur Truss, vice president; Earl McNeal, secretary; and John Zackery, treasurer.
Other members were Wilbur Adams, Andre’ Baraka, Richard Brown, Lowell Chastine, Clarence Gardner, Joe Johnson, Ken Martin, Richard Nabors, Al Richardson, Ira Rutherford, Alex Walker, Michael Williams and Ben Wilson.
Ollie said these men worked tirelessly for years with hundreds of local boys who have participated in YBL over the past 40 years. While none of the coaches left to head up national teams, some of its standout players did. Many have gone on to play as stars of their high school, college and even pro-league teams.
The League was host to the popular Midnight games for years which featured both boy and girl teams according to Ollie. He said the Rocket Football and cheerleading programs are popular activities hosted at the Douglass as well. However, none of it would be possible without the foundation built by those who donated their time to help young boys in the community.
The reunion basketball game and banquet to honor the men is one way Ollie said he can help give thanks to them.
“These (founders of YBL) never got paid for what they did,” said Ollie. “They did it for years because they wanted to, and for that we honor them.”
For more information regarding Celebrity games, youth leagues and camps, call 269-343-6187, or visit www.douglasscommunity.org.
