'No Books No Ball' gives out scholarships, helps kids focus on school over sports
BOSTON -- One way to reduce inner-city violence is to create educational opportunities for young people. A Boston-based program called No Books No Ball encourages kids to put their education ahead of sports and other activities.
On Sunday, No Books No Ball handed out thousands of dollars in scholarships at their annual fundraising dinner in Roxbury.
"So often we fall short of just thinking that the athletic part of our life and our teachings gets us to the next level and it doesn't. A lot of these kids are prominent athletes but when they get to the college threshold, they're ineligible because they can't meet the academic criteria," explained Founder and Director Tony Richard.
The goal of No Books No Ball is to focus on school first and basketball second all year round.
It helps kids like Chris Taylor get high scores both on the court and in the classroom.
"No Books No Ball wants to support kids both academically and in the game of basketball and it's about giving back to the community in this program," said 14-year-old Chris. "I am hoping to play ball competitively as well as become a software engineer."
During the event, they handed out three $1,000 scholarships to kids who excelled in the program and are on their way to college.
"It's gotten me a lot of scholarhip offers to go to college. It got me into the prep school that I'm in now which is very rigorous and keeps me very academically challenged," said 16-year-old scholarship recipient Nasi Simmons.
She has offers at both Harvard and Columbia University. She said No Books, No Ball changed her life.
"No Book No Ball has been my surface level growing up so to be honored and to be an outstanding player there just mean so much to me," said Nasi.
No Books No Ball serves about 500 kids a year in the Boston area. They hope events like Sunday's will generate more support so they can provide more opportunities and scholarships.