PAPA Scores Big with First Awards Program

Young people and their proud parents filled out Bethel Baptist Church to celebrate Phoenixville Area Positive Alternatives’ (PAPA) First Summer Basketball League Awards Luncheon Program last weekend.

PAPA works to enhance the lives of Phoenixville area residents through programs and activities. The basketball league is just one of the many programs PAPA uses to reach the youth.

“PAPA started from one idea in 1995 and it’s still going strong impacting many young people, especially through our summer basketball league,” said Rahim Beasley, PA​PA board member and Basketball League Commissioner. “Several people said we should do something special for the kids at the end of the basketball season, so we decided to put this event together.

"We wanted to create another positive experience for our youth. PAPA volunteer Dolores Winston did a great job in getting the banquet together in just three weeks.”

Whitey Rigsby, the Voice of Villanova University Wildcat Basketball, was the event’s keynote speaker on Saturday. Rigsby talked to the young people about the important life skills you can learn from basketball and how those skills can shape your life on and off the court.

International Basketball League star and Norristown native Tai Crutchfield was also a speaker at the event. Crutchfield spent his time over the summer as a coach in the PAPA league, with two of his teams taking home trophies.

He stressed the importance of PAPA’s summer program.

“Basketball is definitely needed around here because if you noticed in the major cities crime is a problem, but now in suburban cities crime is also growing and you have to have something for the kids to do between those hours you come home from school and when parents aren’t there,” he told the crowd at Bethel Baptist Church on Saturday.

Crutchfield was awarded Coach of the Year.

“It was a fun experience,” said 13-year-old Roy Green, who was honored as Most Valuable Player. “My coach, Tai Crutchfield, is my cousin and he helps me through life and how to make better decisions.”

Crutchfield pointed out how sports can make a difference in young people’s lives.

“Basketball teaches you to discipline you need how to be a team player, how to be responsible and how to be a leader and that's what I try to teach them," he explained.

Many other young people won awards for various accomplishments such as Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved.

Community leader Abdul Ford-Bey was also honored during the event for being one of the pioneers of the basketball league and for his community service to young people since the 1960s.

“This has gone full circle for me because I was the first person to ever sign up for PAPA,” said Beasley. “It started as a travel basketball league and Coach Abdul Ford-Bey would go to the school to see how you were doing at school and if you had less than a 'C' you couldn’t play and you had a week to pull up your grades. Coach has done a lot for the community.”

Ford-Bey just recently suffered a stroke which stopped him from continuing his coaching career. PAPA presented him with an award for his long service to the community and commitment to young people. The upcoming league basketball season will be played in his honor.

“We look to do even bigger and better things next year,” said Beasley. “It’s really important for programs such as this to continue.”

Crutchfield added, "Seeing these young people succeed is more fulfilling for me than anything I ever did in my career."

Proceeds from the event will go to PAPA’s afterschool programs.

Some of the winners were:

The winners of the MVP awards were:
age group 7-10 Noah Baker, 
age group 11-13 Roy Green,
age group 14-17 Rich Bouknight 

The runners-up were: 
age group 7-10 Matthew Dade, Ameerah Green
age group 11-13 Christian Kelly, Zeke Vinson
age group 14-17 Eric Wallace, Jordan Kelly