Proposed basketball tournament a way to guide youth in right direction

Qaadir Bea thought it was strange that about a dozen neighborhood kids were playing football on a dirt mound in his backyard when there was a perfectly good public park full of facilities and space a few blocks away.

In fact, that’s exactly where Bea and his 7-year-old son were heading to until they came across the commotion on the lawn of their Newton home. Curious, they both decided to stay put and play a game with the youngsters, tossing the ball around and running up and down the dirt pile like it was a playground. Eventually Bea asked the children why they wanted to play in this spot of all places.

“There isn’t much else to do,” they told him.

It was an answer Bea was all too familiar with growing up in Chicago years ago. Admittedly, there weren’t a lot of activities for him to do when he was their age.

“Other than join a gang or get into the streets,” Bea said. “I’d hate to see that go to the kids.”

Seeing the children growing bored and trying to have some semblance of fun on a pile of dirt reminded Bea of his difficult upbringing in the streets of his hometown, hanging out with gangbangers and drug dealers and causing trouble before discovering his faith and leaving that life behind him to become a youth pastor.

Looking back, Bea wished his younger self had a positive outlet to connect with his peers or took part in an activity to occupy his time and keep him out of the harsh street life he wrapped himself into.

To prevent Newton kids from going down the same path, Bea and his friend Melvin Conley — who was also raised in Chicago and considers himself an “ex-gangmember” — have come up with an idea to organize a summertime basketball tournament at a Newton city park. They hope to instill fellowship and positive values into children’s lives.

“It’s more like bringing them out together to teach them leadership,” Bea said. “Because basketball has a lot to do with leadership, personality skills, character skills, show them how to work as a team.”

Bea and Conley have proposed the regular youth basketball event to the Newton Park Board, which expressed an interest in the project and commended the idea for involving young citizens in activities during the brief downtime between school years.

At the Dec. 5 park board meeting, City of Newton Community Services Manager Brian Laube asked Bea and Conley to set up a meeting to further discuss the proposition and hash out any details.

Conley said what drives their pursuit is their continued sense of retribution from their former lives, as well as their desire to give back to the community of Newton.

Drug-free for 17 years and alcohol-free for five, Conley, too, remembered when he was thrust into a similar lifestyle as Bea. By providing a basketball tournament to the youth of Newton, his home for more than 14 years, Conley said the kids and teenagers can develop camaraderie and other positive values and have less of a chance stumbling upon bad habits.

Basketball, Conley said, will bring kids together.

“You get everybody to start interacting with each other,” Conley said. “We want to try to make an impact and change things around here.”

“And it will build up some sportsmanship,” Bea added. “The town needs a lot of positivity right now.”

Although the project is still very much in the planning stages, Bea and Conley have reached out to representatives from other organizations like Robbie Robinson, co-founder of Discover Hope, and Tracy Jones-Davis, direct support professional from Optimae LifeServices, to help them reach their goals.

“I want to help these kids because they’re lost — really lost,” Bea said.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com