A hoop and basketball have helped to ease crime a=
cross=20
the country, so there's no reason they can't do the same in the Illawarra,=
=20
according to Midnight Basketball CEO Tess White.
Midnight Basketball is a program which began in the Redfern-Waterloo ar=
ea in=20
February 2006 and has since been conducted in dozens of centres, including=
=20
Armidale, Auburn, Bathurst, Bendigo, Geraldton and Port Augusta.
The Woolloomooloo program was featured in TV documentary Playing in the=
=20
Shadows, screened on the ABC last year.
Now Wollongong City Council, Shellharbour City Council and other commun=
ity=20
stakeholders including NSW Health and the police have submitted an express=
ion of=20
interest to Midnight Basketball to start the two-year program in the Illaw=
arra.
It includes an eight-week professional basketball tournament held twice=
=20
yearly and can cater for up to 80 young people aged between 12 and 18.
The children arrive at the stadium for dinner at 7pm and for five hours=
=20
rotate between basketball games and life skills workshops. They also write=
their=20
code of conduct.
No Workshop, No Jumpshot is the program's motto.
"It's usually held on a Saturday night, which is the highest risk perio=
d of=20
the week when there are issues in the community and kids need something to=
do,"=20
Ms White said.
"At the end of the night a bus takes the youths home, because the last =
thing=20
the community needs is 60 to 80 young people leaving a stadium at midnight=
."
Midnight Basketball has also acted as a bridge to other community progr=
ams as=20
well as education, work and sporting opportunities.
"We have tremendously positive results in engaging young people with th=
e=20
wider community," Ms White said.=20
"People often say there is nothing to engage kids on Saturday night, so=
...=20
if you provide something really engaging and magnetic, and it keeps them o=
ff the=20
street on Saturday night, it has to have a positive effect."