January 2022 Newsletter

Welcome to the Police Athletic League January Newsletter! This month, we are highlighting some of the amazing opportunities that our Sports Program provides to youth in New York City. 

The Police Athletic League would also like to send condolences to the families of NYPD Officer Mora and NYPD Officer Rivera. They gave their lives to help others and we are grateful for their service to our city. 

Saturday Night Lights (SNL) is a program that PAL has been hosting for over 10 years with the Manhattan District Attorney's office. This year, with help and funding from the NYPD, PAL was able to expand the reach to sites in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens.

Young people can come to sites and play basketball safely with their friends. There are also programs like career readiness that often take place during evening. NYPD officers stop by to spend time with teens and talk with them. 

Because of PAL, teens know that they have a safe place to hang out on a Saturday evening in New York City. 

In December, PAL hosted friendly scrimmages between our Edward Byrne Center (EBC) in Queens (named after the fallen NYPD officer) and PAL friends from Brooklyn NIA (Community Service Network). 

These teams played a pair of games which resulted in splitting wins. EBC took the first game 49-44 and NIA took the second game 48-46. Thank you to Brooklyn NIA for traveling and for their hard work. 

Saturday Night Lights (SNL) offers middle schoolers a chance to play basketball before the older teens take the court.  Success Academy (a new site for PAL SNL) & New South Bronx participated in two scrimmages during December.  New South Bronx took the first game 21-16 while Success Academy took the second game, 15-14, on a last second buzzer beater. What an exciting way to end the 2021 SNL basketball season!

In October 2021, PAL hosted a High School Fall Classic Basketball Tournament. The Spartan Pride (2-1) defeated Real Deal (4-0) 68-50, in the championship game on October 26th.

Here are the highlights of the Pride's run to the championship: 

"Real Deal" (4-0) entered the playoffs as the top seed and faced off against "Family" (0-4). Behind 30 points from Jamir S., "Real Deal" was able to advance to the semi-finals with a 69-48 win.  The #2 seed "Spartan Pride" (3-1) easily defeated the 7th seeded "The Gate" (1-3) by a score of 58-16. Jaylin S. led all scorers with 20 points.  

In the 4-seed vs 5-seed match-up, "Life Empowered" and "Harlem Panthers" entered the game with the same record: 2-2. In a highly contested game, "Life Empowered" was able to edge "Harlem Panthers".  The Semi-Finals featured a forfeit and a great match up. "Spartan Pride" earned a 51-44 victory over "B5", led by Ryan H. 14 points.  Due to forfeit, "Real Deal" advanced to the Championship to play "Spartan Pride". 

In a most exciting game, the #2 seeded "Spartan Pride" upset the top-seed "Real Deal" by a score of 68-50. After a tough first half, "Spartan Pride" jumped out to a big second half, behind the efforts of MVP Jaylin S. who scored 15 points.

Thank you to all coaches, refs and players for their hard work, making this a successful tournament! 

On November 11th, PAL's interns with the MSG 4 ME program (through Garden of Dreams) participated live session with the staff of Radio City Music Hall and the Rockettes. Students learned from industry experts Bobby, Alex, Kenny and Priscilla, and even participated in a Q&A with two Rockettes!

Students have been meeting online with various Madison Square Garden professionals since October and this event was their first-time meeting and networking with their mentors in-person. Participants were accompanied by Chief of Programs Danielle Madden-Buck and PAL Sports Dept. Co-Director Brian Bourgouin. Thank you to the Garden of Dreams staff who treated participants to pizza afterwards and a brief tour of Radio City Music Hall.  

Thanksgiving at PAL

In November, young people at the Edward Byrne Center celebrated Thanksgiving by hosting a food drive in South Jamaica, Queens, sponsored by Just a Kid with a Dream. They gave away 40 turkeys along with canned food. Thank you to our staff and participants for their generosity this holiday season.

Participants at New World Prep Charter School in Staten Island hosted their Annual Potluck with the theme of Giving Back. Activities included a scavenger hunt, Thanksgiving scramble, BINGO and pin the feather on the turkey! Participants also donated canned goods to their food drive.

Our Webster Center celebrated Thanksgiving with a special meal together!

The Webster Center in the Bronx hosted a Turkey drive for their neighbors in need with the NYPD.