Youngsters at the Cabbagetown Youth Centre (CYC) got a special hoops session with Toronto Raptors coaches on yesterday to celebrate the refurbishment of three basketball courts in priority neighbourhoods.
The refurbishments will be possible through a $300,000 investment from the MLSE Team Up Foundation, the charitable arm of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
Through their donation, the indoor court at the CYC and outdoor courts in Scarborough Village and Lawrence Heights' Lotherton community will receive much-needed upgrades.
Team Up Foundation executive director Mike Bartlett said the three courts have unique needs and were identified as being in need of upgrades by leaders in the communities in which they are located.
"One thing we do is we go through a consultation process with each community to find out what their unique requirements are," he said. "The indoor court (at the CYC) needs a new floor, 100 per cent and needs a lot of TLC around the outside of the court."
Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said he and the rest of his coaching staff were excited to lend their time to CYC youth. He added that the refurbishment of the three courts would help make them more usable - a definite need in the at-risk communities in which they are located.
"We've been young players looking for a place to go that's safe," he said. "This, for me, is very exciting because I would have loved to have a place like this to play."
The refurbishment of the court will include new flooring to replace the worn floor currently in use, replacement of the rims and backboards and the addition of padding around the walls to help make the court safer for youngsters.
For 13-year-old youngster Isiah Samlal, the refurbishment will definitely add to the enjoyment of the facility. Some improvements have already been made to the court, but the Team Up Foundation's investment will improve the standards at the CYC's court immensely.
"Before, the nets were low and there was no mesh," he said. "When they fix it now, the rim won't shake as much and we'll get new floor, which we need."
CYC executive director Spiros Papathanasakis noted the refurbishment of the court would be the final step in the facility's $1 million renovation, much of which was completed in the summer. The site, which offers child care and youth programming for thousands of youngsters in the downtown core was once an old garage that now includes programming space in which CYC staff run numerous programs. The CYC's main site at 2 Lancaster Ave. is home to the basketball court, with other programs running out of satellite locations in the Cabbagetown and St. James Town communities.
"The Team Up Foundation is helping us renovate the last piece, the heart of our centre, which is our gymnasium," he said.
Papathanasakis added the CYC has managed to make an impact in the lives of countless children and youth in the nearly four decades since it was founded.
"The centre's been here for 39 years and (staff and volunteers have) worked so hard to help kids and create opportunities they wouldn't have had," he said.
The contracts for the work on the three courts will be put out for tender shortly, with work starting on the indoor court expected to start soon. Bartlett said all three courts should be ready for game action before next summer.