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Wednesday, July 16, 2003

Basketball program scores points with Brookline youthBy Jackie Day

I'm gonna dunk that ball!" Santino Ricci said, letting out a pregame cry as he jumped onto a teammate's back and briskly rubbed his head.

	Referee Leonard "Rocky" Wells jokes with players before starting a game in the summer basketball program at Brookline Recreation Center. (Tony Tye, Post-Gaette)

Ricci, 15, hopped down and squeaked across the maple-wood gym floor, joining the swarm of players buzzing around the sweltering court during an afternoon of Brookline Basketball League warm-ups for youths 15 and under.

"It's been a basketball frenzy around here," Carol Hodgkiss said as she sat on the sidelines to watch son Bo and others play a game in the $40,000 renovated facility that brought new wood flooring and an electronic scoreboard to the city park gym in May.

Other than a short-lived three-on-three league that played in the gym five years ago, this is the first organized basketball program that has successfully attracted more than 60 boys, some from as far away as West End.

Team captain Mario Germany, for one, takes two buses from the West End three days a week to participate in the program, which affords all game play and "no drills."

This was the idea of Clint Burton and Rocky Wells, both activity leaders at the Brookline Recreation Center, who keep the program alive.

Wells, who played college ball at Saint Vincent, serves as referee for all league games but manages to fit instruction time into the program.

"Rocky is very good at working with the kids; he's a great teacher," said Burton, who serves primarily as organizer and "cheerleader" of the program. "They listen to him, they respect him."

Hodgkiss and a team of other interested parents first took the idea for the basketball program to Burton, who, with the help from Chuck Senft, director of the recreation center, ran with the ball and brought it back in the form of a league last summer.

"Kids under 15 were hardly ever attracted to this center, [but] now they're here all the time," Hodgkiss said. "And they don't stand for any unsportsmanlike conduct here. Three strikes and they're out."

"I'm sorry," Hodgkiss apologized as she darted from one topic to the next. "I'm just so excited about this, 'cause it takes the boys off the street and gives them something constructive to do."

Team captains Mike Nuevo and Bo Hodgkiss and player Zack Sheridan agreed.

"It keeps you going," Sheridan said.

"Yeah, and it keeps you in shape," Nuevo said. "It gives you something to brag about."

Prior to the program's start, Sheridan and his friends, many of whom play in the league, would congregate in the outdoor court beside the recreation center to watch the adult men's league, run by Wells, or to shoot hoops.

"I always enjoyed watching them play, because they would dunk," Sheridan said, sparking a sports nerve in his friends, who jumped up to simulate a dunk.

"We'll be dunkin' one of these days," Hodgkiss replied.

Having the boys learn from each other and the team captains is one of the program's more novel aspects.

There are seven team leaders chosen by Burton and Wells based on skill and knowledge of the game as well as maturity.

"Dedication from the staff and the effort they put into the program truly makes this one so successful," City Parks Assistant Director Mike Radley said.

Team captain Matt Berberich chose to stay on this season and play for that very reason rather than move on to an older outside league.

"I'm a leader, never a follower," said Berberich with a smirk, boxing his buddy in the arm. "There's not many opportunities to lead [in life]. And I get to teach the younger guys how to get better."

Burton said one of the program's most rewarding aspects is watching the boys progress in skill during the season, which runs from June 20 through August and picks up for a shorter winter session on Saturdays from January to April.

The cost of the program is $10. It includes game shirts, end-of-season prizes and a pizza party.

"This would cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars for this kind of exposure or summer camp," Hodgkiss said.

"I really believe if this keeps up, Brookline is going to put out an NBA player."

Jackie Day is a freelance writer.