Sunday, November 25, 2018

Malvern rec centre gets fresh look with assist from Raptors, OVO

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Scores of young people came out to the Malvern Community Recreation Centre on the weekend to check out a newly refurbished gymnasium, one of four projects sponsored by the Toronto Raptors and OVO, the company owned by hip hop artist Drake.

The gym, sporting a fresh coat of paint, a new scoreboard — with a water-bottle fill-up station on the way — is part of the Welcome Toronto project launched earlier this year that will see $1 million spent to spruce up basketball facilities in four city-owned recreation centres.

Genivah King lines up a foul shot.
Genivah King lines up a foul shot.  (STEVE RUSSELL / TORONTO STAR)

Maya Johnson, 10, came to take part in the basketball camp sponsored by the Raptors in a place she comes to all year-round to visit the library, go skating and play basketball.

“It’s nice to have this (place) in the neighbourhood. It’s not too far from my home. It’s fun,” she said.

“I really like basketball,” said Isaiah Mohammed, 9, who comes on Saturdays to play, and has made many new friends.

Kelvin Seow, district manager of community recreation with the city, said initiatives like Welcome Toronto — which will also see refurbished basketball facilities at the Flemingdon Community Centre, the Thistletown Multiservice Centre and the Matty Eckler Community Centre — make a big difference at the community level.

“This place is a safe place for the community. The programs here create social opportunities and friendships, lifelong friendships,” Seow said.

Akil Augustine, a producer and host at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment where he hosts NBATV’s The Hangout, knows personally the importance of basketball and other sports for young people.

Augustine, who immigrated to Canada from Trinidad, said he spent many happy times as a youth playing basketball for the Pape Tigers at Matty Eckler.

“I didn’t really know much about the culture of Canada when I came. I think the one thing that all the kids in my neighbourhood did is play basketball. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were the key times where we had nowhere to be and the gym was always open for us,” Augustine recalled, adding he grew up with Vidal Massiah, who went on to a professional career and served as captain of the Canadian men’s national basketball team.

“I know in this neighbourhood — it may be a little bit more intense than my (old) neighbourhood — these kids need to have this gym open. You know what you think of when you think of Malvern. And they (kids) think it too,” Augustine said, noting the Scarborough community is often associated with crime.

“And so you need a place like this where you’re safe to come in . . . where you can shoot a basketball for hours on end, sweat, get angry, do a hard foul, celebrate. You can go through the whole gamut of human emotions in a gym and you don’t need much else but a ball,” he said.

“My life has changed tremendously because I’m a ballplayer. I may not play professional basketball but it’s a huge part of my identity. My physical fitness comes from it, my mental approach to problem-solving from it. I’m all for more gyms, more soccer fields, more badminton courts, more whatever you can do, because athletics is a huge way to develop positive people,” Augustine said.

Bruce DeMara is a Toronto-based staff reporter. Follow him on Twitter: @bdemara