One of the great things about the summer is getting to know the purity of basketball on the playground. The summer basketball leagues bring people together. That’s why the largely Dominican population in the Washington Heights section of New York City is so lucky to have Dyckman Park League cofounder Kenny Stevens.
We’ve already covered the first two videos in Green-Label.com‘s 5-part video series on the fabled court. Now comes the third installment detailing Dyckman League cofounder and current director, Kenny Stevens.
Stevens was there in the beginning when 6 teams came to play at Dyckman because “we actually got tired of running all over the city playing ball, so we started inviting teams from Connecticut and New Jersey and were inspired to start our own tournament,” he says.
That was 22 years ago, and now there are 82 teams sponsored by Nike and other global brands. Stevens is still there, helping clean up the park even after as many as 1500-2000 spectators come out for games because “that don’t matter, we still gotta get the park clean,” he says matter-of-factly.
The Park provides jobs through their youth program and openings with Dyckman Park security; local food vendors can sell their home cooked food — usually consisting of authentic Dominican cuisine. “It’s a blessing for the community,” Stevens says early in the video, and he’s right.
Kenny adds that Dyckman Park can “maybe you get an education, and if you come back and uplift somebody else, it’s always a good thing.” We agree. Check it out and look for the last two installments of Green-Label.com’s series on Dyckman coming soon.
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