Portland natives and basketball coaches Aaron Miles (University of Kansas) & Michael Lee (Roosevelt High School) recently presented the “You Matter Basketball Clinic” for 7th-9th grade boys. What made this camp unique is that although basketball was the catalyst for gathering the youth, addressing gang and gun violence was the purpose.

Along with basketball skills clinics the young men participated in classroom sessions on gang violence and prevention, goal setting and police interaction.  It was a huge success and something that I hope will be continued in some form on an annual basis.  Below are clips of Coach Lee delivering a powerful message to the youth, Coach Miles explaining a goal setting exercise as well as a longer clip giving an overall glimpse of the day’s activities.