Email   Print   Share By Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor

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Braydon Boyd, 11, balances a spinning ball during the “Shoot for the Stars” basketball camp held last week at the Comanche Youth Center. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor

With help, Karena Glass, 8, a Timber Ridge Elementary school student, balances the ball on her fingertip. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor

Larry “Shorty” Coleman and friends, including Koe Shumaker (center), 9, participated in a basketball clinic last week at the Comanche Youth Center. About 50 boys and girls learned basketball and life skills from Harlem Legends players. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor

He improved his jump shot and ball handling skills but Marcus Jackson, a 13-year-old who will attend Ellison High School this fall, said developing a better attitude about playing basketball and living his life were more important.

“I attended last year because my mom signed me up. But I liked it, so I came back. It improved my jump shot and they taught me how to have a better attitude about the game and life, too,” Jackson said Friday at the Comanche Youth Center, where he and about 50 other youths were picking up basketball and other skills from center staff members and two former NBA and Harlem Legends stars, Michael Douglas and Larry “Shorty” Coleman.

After being a high school standout at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, Tenn., Douglas played for the Volunteer state’s Dyersburg State College and then became one of three players chosen from 1,500 who tried out for the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team in 1986.

After traveling the world, meeting several presidents, Pope John Paul II and Mother Theresa, Douglas started the Michael Douglas Youth Foundation. Through programs such as its “Shoot for the Stars” summer basketball camps, the foundation raises funds for non-profit organizations through exhibition games and other activities performed by the Harlem Legends basketball team. It includes former Globetrotters, NBA, NFL, past U.S. Olympians and other professionals.

“We teach basic basketball fundamentals and teach kids something that will help them succeed in life as well as on the basketball courts,” Douglas said during a break at the youth center gym.

Through its fund-raising activities, he added, the foundation provides scholarships because “A lot of kids who come to camp are underprivileged kids and some of our funds help kids attend the camps nationwide.”

In addition to basketball skills, Douglas said, he emphasizes other career opportunities such as coaching, officiating, business management and operating youth sports centers.

“Not all of these kids are going to be fortunate enough to play on a professional team so we talk to them about other careers. But they have to think it; they have to dream it and know it’s possible; and that’s where we come in,” he added.

Coleman played for the Globetrotters from 1986-1991. Part of a family of 11 in Washington, D.C., Coleman said, “My goal was to reach out and help others because someone had helped me all my life. I saw kids go the right way and wrong way.”

Of his hardwoods success, the five-foot seven-inch Coleman said, “I don’t fly a lot but I drive a lot. Dunkin’ the ball wasn’t a big thing to me. Growing up on the east coast you learn a finesse game.”

Coleman emphasizes “... caring and being responsible, being trustworthy, and being honest with yourself. If you respect yourself, others will respect you.”

Serving as a mentor for the children of military families, especially those who have lost a parent, also is rewarding for Coleman.

“I can come in and lift their spirits. I let them know, your dad did something great ... more than what I can do for you this week. You’ve got something to keep and cherish the rest of your life. He was a great Soldier who died for his country. I can’t replace his dad but I can be his mentor as long as he is on earth.”

He and other athletes are available on the team’s website, www.harlemlegendsonline.com.

“They (parents) can pick the phone up anytime and get in touch with us. No matter where we are, we’ll call back,” he said.

Vicky Jackson, Comanche Youth Center director, said, “I think the most important thing is for them to get the opportunity to learn from these guys. These guys have come back a second year and they teach them something every year. At Hood we try to give the kids an opportunity to pick up basketball and life skills including that character counts, responsibility and team work. We try to incorporate all of that into our CYS programs.”

Christa Pritchard, 13, a Smith Middle School student, said of the four-day camp, “I learn new things everyday and it builds courage and team spirit. I just love it; it keeps me busy.”

At home Pritchard practices basketball skills with her father, Sgt. Maj. Tedd Pritchard, command sergeant major for the Fort Hood Noncommissiond Officers Academy.

Douglas hopes the Harlem Legends will be invited back to teach a basketball camp next year.

“I enjoy working with these kids. They are some of the best behaved in the world,” he added.