After NBA event is cancelled, Parkdale bounces back

Here is an article written by Kate Allen, from the Globe and Mail, about Tibetan youth and basketball in the Parkdale area of Toronto.  I was interviewed by her for it and afterward I helped her with getting in touch with some other Tibetans in the community so that they could also give their input to the article. It was published last month but I forgot to post it on here for more people to read. So here it is for those who haven’t yet read it:

Rigpe Dorje (left), Dorjee Galtsen, Tenzin Kalden and Tenzing Chaeyang relax after playing basketball at an outdoor court in Parkdale. Della Rollins for The Globe and Mail

In Parkdale, like other inner-city communities in Toronto,basketball is social glue. When mentors try to impart life lessons to kids here, they often do it with basketball.

Remington Dixon, 19, is a coach with Power Youth and Sports, a local organization. “We have the kids come in, and every time I do a drill, I relate it to life,” he says. “If I can relate it to life, I can get kids to do well in school and on the court.”

So when the annual summer NBA 3on3 basketball tournament was cancelled, community organizers worried about what lesson that presented. For kids in Parkdale, the event was the equivalent of a trip to summer camp or the cottage, says Power director and parent Bruce Whitaker. The cancellation – “it was just bad vibes,” he says.