NYPD Blue Chips won the best-of-three basketball competition against Team J-Cap.
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
The gym at J-CAP, a bilingual residential drug treatment program for adults and young adults in Jamaica, Queens, was abuzz on Wednesday when the NYPD Community Affairs Bureau hosted a powerlifting and basketball competition for cops, kids, and the community during winter recess.
The DJs of Radio Hot 97 kept the crowd pumped and also handed out free shirts, cups, and bags. Team ESPN New York gave out free basketball cards while Reign Storm kept players and guests fueled with their energy drinks.
Part of the fun activities was a friendly tire flip competition, while the NYPD Blue Chips basketball team duked it out against team J-CAP in a best-of-three basketball game, with NYPD Blue Chips winning the series.
NYPD Blue Chips, a year-round youth mentoring program, bridges the gap between police and young people and, besides mentoring, offers an array of sports activities like baseball, basketball, soccer, and golf.
Blue Chips players Justin Sanabria, Kes Luiz, and Adam Small have been involved with NYPD Blue Chips for a few months and thought it was a great program.
Besides the sports aspect, Sanabria joined to “have fun and meet new people,” while Luiz said he also learned to take his health seriously.
Luiz praised the officers who volunteer during their time off, coaching and mentoring kids in their neighborhood.
“I think it’s great to have other people mentoring you,” Luiz said.
Small learned about the Blue Chips program through NYPD P.O. Bonds, who coaches his team.
“I think it’s very nice of [the officers] to take time out of their day to teach us new moves and stuff. I really appreciate it,” Small said.
Malique Birmingham has been part of the NYPD Blue Chips program for a year. Birmingham said it had been a great experience and that it was more than “just basketball.”
“They teach me how to be a man and responsibility,”…
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