Obama Presidential Center to host summer basketball, volleyball programs for South Side teens
The Obama Presidential Center will kick off its youth programming this summer with opportunities for South Side teens to play volleyball and basketball and build leadership skills.
The coed programs are part of an initiative announced Thursday between the Obama Foundation and the nonprofit After School Matters, which will serve as the center’s main youth programming partner when it opens on June 19. They are the first of what will be an expanding catalog of programs for teens at the center.
The Obama Foundation also plans to partner with other organizations to offer youth programming, including My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, Girls Opportunity Alliance and Chicago Public Schools, though the details of those collaborations are still being worked out. There’s plans for youth programming around arts and media, city gardening, cooking and more.
The two sports programs will run from July to August and are open to Chicago high schoolers ages 14 to 18 who live in or go to school in the South Shore, Woodlawn or Washington Park communities. Like other After School Matters offerings, teens will earn a stipend for participating and completing the programs.
Interested teens should submit an online form by April 15 to be considered for a spot. It’s expected about 100 teens will participate in the first wave of youth programs at the center.
Joe Kennedy, director of athletics and sports leadership at the Obama Presidential Center, said it was important to start with those neighborhoods because they’ve been involved in getting the campus off the ground.
“These communities have been part of this journey with us,” Kennedy said. “We want to be intentional about some of our initial opportunities that we get a chance to bring these moments, programs, resources into the communities.”
The youth programs will be held at the Home Court facility on former President Barack Obama’s namesake museum and campus. The 60,000-square-foot facility includes a professional-sized basketball court, community rooms and an exercise area.
The programs are meant to encourage teens to be active while instilling leadership, teamwork and other skills young people can use throughout their lives. Program instructors will also focus on teens’ mental health.
The Obamas “believe deeply in the power of sport to be a way to transform lives and build civic habits and strengthen communities,” Kennedy said.
Mary Ellen Caron, CEO of After School Matters, said the organization already has programs in those South Side neighborhoods and this partnership will add more opportunities for teens. The nonprofit and the foundation are providing the space and staff for these two initial programs and are planning to fundraise together in the future as the partnership expands.
“We’re making sure that those young people know that the Obama Center is there and that it’s going to be an accessible place for teenagers,” Caron said.
Caron also hopes to offer programs that introduce teens to the trades, something young people frequently ask about. The organization has around 50 trades programs across the city.
“It’s vitally important that we continue to look at teens and make sure to find out what they like, what they don’t like, really care about them, so that they are engaged,” Caron said.
The partnership with the Obama Presidential Center marks the latest expansion of After School Matter’s offerings. Last year, the nonprofit opened a new facility near the former Cabrini-Green public housing site on the Near North Side that includes a theater, gym, art studios and science and technology labs.