Rising Stars bridges the gap in Alabama with 100 year milestone

Greater Alabama Council of the Boy Scouts of America and YMCA hosted a series of Rising Stars basketball clinics at the Birmingham Y September 17-19.

The clinics were offered for boys in grades 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6 in an effort to attract and enroll minority children to scouting.

Rising Stars has successfully utilized basketball to enroll children in programs that take them off the streets throughout the country for over 20 years and is recognized as among the finest instructional basketball programs in the world.

Rising Stars founder, Paul Savramis was both proud and excited to be a part of the three day historic event.

Mr. Savramis described the event as being a historical milestone. He states, "This is the first time in 100 years that the Boy Scouts featured any basketball program to be a part of scouting. To be selected as that program is a great honor for us.

It feels great to be a part of scouting history, and equally so to be a part of the historic changes being made possible as a result of these programs here in Alabama."

Rising Stars came to Alabama as a result of the efforts of Scout board member Trey Ferguson. Trey, a former Rising Stars Whiz Kid, has seen firsthand the effectiveness of the Rising Stars model in reaching kids.

Mr. Ferguson states, "Being a part of Rising Stars allowed me to have the opportunity of seeing different parts of the US and traveling to other countries. I got a chance to use basketball in ways I could never imagine and had the best time of my life doing it. It was a great experience for me and one I want every kid in Alabama to have. There is no doubt in my mind that Rising Stars can make a difference in a child's life!".

The program proved to be everything Mr. Ferguson described and exceeded everyone's expectations. Over 150 new scouts from the inner city were enrolled in yearly programs. Scouts outreach director Derrick Russaw explains, "These kids have never seen basketball introduced this way. It was, let's do this from start to finish, and it involved each boy 100% of the time. Most importantly, they had the time of their lives. Parents are still e-mailing and calling telling me their kids don't want to take their camp shirts off, and when can they do this again!"

ESPN analyst and Rising Stars CEO, Jay Williams, flew in to take part in the clinics. Jay was equally proud and thrilled to be a part of this historical event and overwhelmed by the children's reaction to the program.

Rising Stars is scheduled to offer two more clinics in Alabama to complete this phase of the pilot program. After that the plan is to go national.