For the next several Saturdays, the basketball courts along Barnes Street in New Kensington will be a hive of activity as area kids gather to show off their basketball skills and work to grow in the game.<\/p>\n
The seventh season of the Kings & Queens of the Court summer youth basketball program begins at noon Saturday, and founder Ian Benson said more than 50 area boys and girls ages 7 to 14 are set to fill the hoops and foster friendships under the watchful eyes of a group of instructors excited to see the future on display.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe program continues to be steady,\u201d said Benson, who first brought the program to the outdoor courts when they were completed in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the growth of so many other sports and activities, people going on vacation, it is a blessing to get the turnout and the numbers we do. I hope the program helps heighten the sport and stays on the minds of the residents of New Kensington and surrounding communities. I just want to grow the game to the level of where I see it in other cities and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Benson said the goal is to have set teams play each other every week, but with schedules changing and new kids signing up, there will be some team flexibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will try to keep the core of each team together for that team aspect, but (the teams) could look a little different from the beginning to the end of the season,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past, they all have a great attitude about it. Last year, when we had to do it, they didn\u2019t complain. They just love getting out and playing basketball. It is a great group of kids who are ready to learn, and I am looking forward to the potential of all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Benson said there is excitement when he sees players who come to the program with developed skills interact and work with some of the others who might be less experienced or are just starting to see how talented they can be.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is one of the most rewarding and challenging things about this,\u201d Benson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is rewarding when we get to introduce the game, but it is such a complex game. People who have been playing it have such a big advantage. That is why it is so cool when we get to mesh the two talent levels together. The more experienced kids remember that they were once starting out and hoping to learn all they could. There\u2019s always something to learn, no matter who they are. We want to help make that happen while also making it fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kings & Queens of the Court runs every Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. through the end of July.<\/p>\n
Benson said he couldn\u2019t come close to having this youth basketball opportunity available without the help of his instructional team, including Benson\u2019s cousin and former Valley teammate Steve Ross, area coach Jeris Price, Burrell graduate Joey Marzullo and Valley grads Dom Lyons and Tyair Wright.<\/p>\n
Wright, a 2023 Valley grad, came to the summer youth sessions in 2019 before his freshman year.<\/p>\n
Benson said he is encouraged by the support from Valley varsity coaches Eric Kostyk (boys) and Tonya (Pryor) Norman (girls).<\/p>\n
\u201cEric came down to our 3-on-3 tournament last Saturday, and I got to talk to him a little bit,\u201d Benson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe actually reached out to me when he first got the job, and we definitely plan on working together more to help the kids. Tonya and I have been working closely together, too, and we are looking to do some good things in the future for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Benson said he also wouldn\u2019t be able to put on the summer program without the support of Joe Hargraves, the man behind the New Kensington-based Linda Louise Foundation, which serves to help many area youth and student programs.<\/p>\n
Dante Cicconi, the New Kensington director of parks and buildings, and New Kensington mayor Thomas Guzzo, Benson said, have also been strong supporters of the program.<\/p>\n
\u201cDante is the one who kind of opened me up to the access to do all of my basketball on that court,\u201d Benson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMayor Guzzo has been amazing also. He\u2019s been so supportive of us and what we\u2019ve wanted to do with this program and everything we\u2019ve brought to him. We have a close relationship. I used to coach his son, Anthony. It is so great to have the city\u2019s support. I just hope it can continue for years into the future so we can do great things because the city needs it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Benson said that while the summer program is based in New Kensington, and he would love to see more youth from New Kensington and Arnold sign up, others from all over the area are encouraged to participate.<\/p>\n
For more information on the Kings & Queens of the Court summer basketball program or the growing winter camp program, call Benson at 724-472-7324, email him at ianbenson1987@gmail.com or check it out on Instagram: @kqoc_basketball and Facebook: Kings & Queens of the Court Basketball.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI remember how fun it was growing up to play outside with my friends,\u201d Benson said. \u201cIt\u2019s different from playing in a gym. With all the tablets and technology and other things now, kids sometimes don\u2019t get outside enough. To get them out here is cool.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the next several Saturdays, the basketball courts along Barnes Street in New Kensington will be a hive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265195,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-265194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}