Youth basketball program emphasizes leadership, character building

CEDAR RAPIDS — Theophile 'Theo' Habimana wants to be a neurosurgeon.

It's a lofty goal for the 14-year-old eighth-grade student at Roosevelt Middle School. But he credits an after-school program for giving him the tools and the confidence he needs to achieve that goal.

The program is called the Leaders Believers and Achievers Foundation — or LBA, for short. Habimana has been participating in the program since sixth grade.

'I can be a leader when I want to be,' he said. 'I've just got to speak up.'

Aliya Jones, 13, joined the program in sixth grade at the advice of a counselor at Roosevelt. Jones said she's benefitted from the motivational speakers who attend the sessions.

'They tell you about all you can do in the future and how to succeed in life,' she said.

Habimana and Jones said they were enticed to join the free program — which takes place in the afternoon and evenings at Roosevelt and McKinley middle schools — by the promise of a place to play basketball. Indeed, much of the evening program is spent shooting hoops, practicing layups and running drills.

But the program's founder, Alphonse O'Bannon — who has 20 years of experience with youth basketball — said the program isn't just sports.

'It all started as a basketball program,' O'Bannon said. 'We found out there was more than just basketball.'

About four years ago, O'Bannon said his original basketball program evolved into the LBA — which is grant-funded and open to sixth- to eighth-graders in Linn and Johnson counties — and began putting more of an emphasis on what goes on in school and in the community.

Basketball — and other activities, such as a hip-hop dance group — are the 'carrot on the stick' to get students in the door. But once they are there they learn about leadership, skill building and forming positive habits, O'Bannon said.

The approach was evident during Thursday night's session at Roosevelt Middle School. The evening starts with kids playing basketball and socializing, but when O'Bannon blows his whistle, the students are expected to circle up around him and take a seat.

All eyes on him as he discusses the word of the week: achieve. He asks for volunteers to talk about what that means to them. Hands shoot up.

'Achieving is setting goals and having the steps of how to get to your goals,' one boy says.

Later, O'Bannon emphasizes the importance of listening and following directions through a multipart basketball drill.

'You should be able to take this to the floor, just like you take it into the classroom, just like you take it into the street,' he said.

O'Bannon said he isn't trying to replace what the schools are doing but reinforce it. If a student is struggling with homework, resources are available through LBA after school, and students will sit out on other activities to get the attention they need.

'I got better grades because he helped me,' said Jean Kashos, a 13-year-old Roosevelt student.

Kenyon Murray, a former University of Iowa basketball player and the foundation's assistant director, said the program works because it allows children to learn through activities they enjoy. He cited reading Sports Illustrated as an example of building reading skills.

'We have allowed our kids to figure out what they like to do,' he said. 'We've learned when kids have choices ...

, they excel at them.'

O'Bannon knows he can't help every one who comes into his program. Both Aaron Richardson, the 15-year-old shot and killed in September, and 14-year-old Robert Humbles, the teen accused of killing him, were LBA participants. Sooner or later, O'Bannon said, someone was going to fall through the cracks.

But he remains positive.

'As two lives went out of our program, I had four more knocking at our door,' he recalled.

O'Bannon resists the notion that the program is for at-risk youth as he believes all children have the potential to be at risk. Nor is it only for black students, which he said is a misconception.

'It's not a black thing, it's not a white thing,' he said. 'It's a community thing. If you are a kid who wants to understand, 'Who I am and what I do I want to do,' we can help you with that.'