One City Champions Together Chicago from the West Side (Photo Credit: Jarvis Kim).
On Saturday (Dec. 7), the One City Basketball League commemorated the end of its third season with a championship celebration at Wendell Phillips Academy High School.
The months-long League featured 28 teams of young people ages 16-25 from Chicago’s South and West sides. The season consisted of eight game days and more than 100 individual games, culminating in today’s final championship, where community advocates, family members and founders of the League gathered to commemorate the players’ accomplishments.
“I’m so grateful to be here celebrating the third One City Championship,” said Noah’s Arc Foundation Co-Founder Joakim Noah. “I always say that basketball is more than just a sport, and we have hundreds of people here today who are proof of that. Basketball has the power to bring people together, create common ground and help us work towards a common good, and I’m so thankful to have the chance to celebrate our players and all the people who helped make this League happen today.”
Joakim Noah (Photo Credit: Jarvis Kim).
The One City Basketball League is a collaboration spearheaded by the Noah’s Arc Foundation, Transform Justice and 28 other community organizations. Rooted in a collaborative approach to reducing violence, the One City Basketball League uses basketball as a unifier to build inter-community relationships and as a platform to empower participants.
Throughout the course of the season, the League pairs basketball with integrated workshops and group discussions centered on emotional wellness, trauma resilience, financial literacy, career readiness and art-based therapy. Through these programs and workshops, coaches and coordinators worked to drive its unique model of violence interruption by unifying participants through basketball to build inter-community relationships.
One City Championship Tip-off Contextos (South Side) vs Together Chicago (West Side) (Photo Credit: Jarvis Kim).
“These young men have shown incredible dedication to themselves and their communities, and it’s been amazing to watch them connect and grow over the course of this season,” said Cobe Williams, Director of National Programs for Cure Violence Global. “One City proves that with the right support and determination, these young people have everything they need to succeed, and I’m so glad we have the chance to create a space to empower them as they express themselves.”
This year, Together Chicago from the West Side defeated the South Side Contextos in overtime.
Here are more photos from the One City Basketball Championship, along with a familiar face, courtesy of photographer Jarvis Kim:
Slam dunk competition
Slam Dunk Champion
L to R: Cobe Williams and Derrick Rose
Derrick Rose