It's giving children a safe, healthy place to play this summer. The free skills clinics will run every Saturday from June 15 through August 10 from 10am-2pm.
Nike's Chi League Parks offers age-appropriate basketball skills clinics at parks that are already hosting the Windy City Hoops program. Nike will complement the basketball curriculum with visits from professional players and other role models in sports-related fields.
The Chicago Park District will host the clinics at various parks, accommodating 100 to 150 kids each week, across an eight-week session. The schedule is listed below, and individuals can register by visiting the parks in-person and selecting a 9- to 13-year-old or 14- to 18-year-old grouping.
- June 15 -- Ogden Park
- June 22 -- Jackson Park
- June 29 -- Fernwood Park
- July 13 -- Columbus Park
- July 20 -- Garfield Park
- July 27 -- Loyola Park
- Aug. 3 -- Franklin Park
- Aug. 10 -- Amundsen Park
Interested teens should visit www.chicagoparkdistrict or one of the ten participating park district sites. The ten Windy City Hoops sites were spread across eight community areas chosen due to factors such as crime levels and the need for teen programing. They are:
- Loyola Park (Rogers Park)
- Amundsen Park (Austin)
- Columbus Park (Austin)
- Garfield Park (East Garfield)
- Franklin Park (North Lawndale)
- Kennicott Park (Kenwood)
- Jackson Park (Woodlawn)
- Ogden Park (Englewood)
- Hamilton Park (Englewood)
- Fernwood Park (Roseland)
BIOS:
Anthony Davis, Jr: Chicago native. He played as a power forward for the University of Kentucky as a freshman before being selected first overall in the 2012 NBA Draft by New Orleans. He plays power forward and center. As a high school basketball player for Chicago's Perspectives Charter School, he was unknown nationally and locally after 3 seasons of play in the Blue Division of the Chicago Public High School league. He was a high school All-American by every major selector and earned Co-MVP honors at the 2011 Jordan Brand Classic.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: Somerdale, NJ native. He currently plays for the Charlotte Bobcats. He was once considered to be one of the best high school basketball players in the US. In July 2010, he was part of the gold medal winning team in the FIBA U-17 World Championships in Hamburg, Germany.
