ARLINGTON – Representatives from the Mavs Foundation renewed acquaintances with an old friend on this fall, and the results were as awe-inspiring as they were the first time they met.
A few years ago, Mavs Foundation reps were on hand for a festive event when they dedicated a Reading & Learning Center at the Boys & Girls Club of Arlington Don Kromer Branch. In September, representatives of the Mavs Foundation ventured back to the same Boys & Girls Club, this time for a basketball Court Dedication.
One long-time member of the Boys & Girls Club’s Kromer Branch, 15-year old Torion Lewis, certainly appreciates the twin dedications by the Mavs Foundation. She said it has gone a long ways towards helping shape her life.
“I’ve been a member of the Boys & Girls Club ever since I was seven years old,” Lewis said. “I came here and I’ve enjoyed my time ever since.”
“I just want to say thank you so much to everybody that donated to our Boys & Girls Club, because out of all of my seven years of being here, this is one of the best things that’s happened to our club and I just want to thank you so much for investing in us. I’m very excited to be here and I think this court is going to help me in the future to better advance my basketball skills and I’m really enjoying it.”
Steve Wurm, the President of the Boys & Girls Club of Arlington, also is enjoying the new basketball court.
“It helps us continue to reach out to over a thousand kids who come to this facility,” Wurm said. “Kids come in here not just to play basketball, but to use this facility for exercise, for taking care of their mind and their body.”
Wurm pointed out that the new basketball court can also be used as a valuable tool for him to recruit other teenagers to this facility.
“We’re trying to get more teens here – get them off the streets,” Wurm said. “We’ve got some neighborhoods around here that kids like to find trouble, and in here there’s an opportunity for a safe place to come.”
“When you walk in here the gym just stands out. It’s amazing – the before and after.”
Dallas Mavericks guard Seth Curry partnered with the Mavs Foundation to build the court with the Seth Curry Foundation. He attended the Court Dedication and spoke to the crowd and shared with them the value of having a basketball court in their neighborhood.
“It’s great to be in a community in the Dallas area and be able to partner with the Mavs Foundation again and give back to the Boys & Girls Club an actual basketball court,” Curry said. “The basketball court is a place that I was attached to as a kid, so hopefully these kids enjoy it as much as I did growing up playing basketball.”
“Hopefully this is a place where they can just get away from some of the other stuff going on in life like I did growing up, and just have fun playing the game.”
Curry said he was never a member of a Boys & Girls Club. But he added: “I went to a couple of them. Even after my dad retired (following a 16-year career in the National Basketball Association) he used to come by and do different events at the Boys & Girls Club, so I know how important they are to the community, so to be able to help them out is special to me.”
The no-strings-attached assistance by the Mavs is also special to Floyd Jahner, the chief operating officer of the Mavs and president of the Mavs Foundation.
“I love it for the kids to be able to come in and play on a top-notch wood floor in a very nice facility,” said Jahner. “The bigger thing, though, and I really mean this, is that the court is an avenue to get kids into the Boys & Girls Club and get them healthy physically, but more-so bring them in for the other offerings that they have, like the leadership, the homework tutorials, reading and learning, and the computer labs.”
“All of the other programs that they have here are what’s going to help these kids grow up, be successful and be really good contributing people in our community. And that’s what’s exciting about it all.”
At the Court Dedication, a lot of the talk was about the fresh smell of the paint on the court.
“It’s something about a new paint smell, a new court smell,” Curry said. “It makes you want to get out here and get some shots up.”
“It gave me the itch when I walked in here and saw the new court. They really went to the full length of refurbishing this court, and hopefully these kids can enjoy it because I know that people put a lot of work into getting it fixed up.”
That work, Wurm acknowledged, is very much appreciated.
“It was a floor that had a little damage to it,” Wurm said. “But they came in and stripped it down and fixed up some bad spots and polished it up and gave it a fresh new look and it’s amazing. Even the (Mavs’ colored) blue and black walls and everything else are aligned.”
Wurm recalls when the Mavs, along with forward Dirk Nowitzki, traveled to Arlington and dedicated a Reading & Learning Center in this same Boys & Girls Club. A giant picture of Nowitzki with his arms spread out adorns one entire wall in a room in this facility.
“You can’t miss it, with Dirk’s big arms spread from wall-to-wall,” Wurm said. “And it’s packed every day with kids doing homework in there. Now the gym will be packed with things going on, too, so we’re excited.”
“The Mavs Foundation is just a great community supporter around here in the DFW area. Sometimes it’s hard to find the money, so when we’re able to get a foundation like that to come in here, it’s great.”
Curry was unaware that Nowitzki had previously been at the Boys & Girls Club of Arlington for the unveiling of a Reading & Learning Center. Now that he knows it, Curry said: “That’s special to have two different teammates come in and do different things at the Boys & Girls Club.”
“It shows that as a team we’re trying to do good things on the court, but also do better things off the court by helping out our fans and helping out the community.”
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