Saturday, September 04, 2010
The Ramadan Basketball Tournament is in its third week. It will be held every Saturday until Nov. 25, from 4 to 8 p.m., at Green Central Community Center.
Qasim Bashir (Kah-SEEM' Bah-SHEER') is a youth program manager with the Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center. He says basketball is a great icebreaker - and once you connect with kids, it opens doors for discussions about harder things in their lives.
The idea for the tournament came up after some Somali youth became involved in violent activities, both here and in Somalia.
Bashir hopes the tournament will reinforce positive behaviors. Among other things, he hopes it will lead to mentoring opportunities, where older players will tutor kids on the younger teams.
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