WHAT WE DO
We help Black youth in Portland realize their potential and achieve a positive outlook for their future through our community focused basketball program. We provide leadership opportunities, community building, and one-on-one mentoring between youth and coaches.
Our Focus
We are dedicated to giving these youths role models who will provide mentorship and a supportive influence in their lives, steering them towards both academic and professional success. We want our teenagers to develop a deep and unshakable confidence in themselves, a love for their community, and a sense of self-worth through team building and our genuine care for their growth and wellbeing.
OUR ATHLETIC TRAINING AND BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS IMPROVE OUR YOUTH’S LIVES THROUGH:
COMMUNITY BUILDING
Youth form positive relationships with others in their community by working together as a team and participating in friendly competition with those in other communities. They learn the principles of good sportsmanship and develop important skills of emotional regulation.
LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Not only do our participants play in the tournaments, but our more veteran youth often come full circle and act as paid staff to supervise and run almost all aspects of the events. They can take on the roles of coaches, referees, monitors, and even act as “security,” facilitating a major sense of community, instilling a deep responsibility, and allowing them to act as mentors to our younger participants. Aspects like this are where we instill and teach the critical life skills.
We Measure the Success of Our Participants by Their:
DEVELOPMENT OF GOALS & ASPIRATIONS
INCREASED SUPPORT & CONNECTIONS
ACADEMIC SUCCESS
What We Offer
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For most of our students, this is the highlight of our programming. They spend the year training, then three times a year we come together to host regional tournaments. Our goal is to expand to make this a quarterly event.
These events bring more than 5,000 young people from around our region together, including from neighboring towns in Vancouver, Clackamas, Beaverton, and Clapton. During these tournaments, participants form teams and play one another over a four-day event.
We subsidize all their expenses, including travel, lodging, food, and participation fees. These tournaments are a chance for our players to be seen by college-level coaches and scouts, giving them the opportunity to turn their athletic talent into a college career.
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We provide Portland’s youth with year-round basketball training that is strongly focused on one-on-one and group mentorship.
Throughout the year, youth participate in athletic training through basketball programming. Many BIPOC children in Portland have not had access to this kind of extracurricular programming, which provides a range of social, personal, and academic benefits. Through these events, youth develop positive relationships with peers and develop their athletic abilities.
All of our programming, the year-round training and the tournaments, are strongly focused on creating opportunities for one-on-one mentoring between youth and coaches. Our hope is that by offering our youth a constructive environment and positive, personalized guidance, we will help mitigate some of the major issues affecting our community. Through this kind of personalized mentorship, we are giving a new generation of young, marginalized people with a sense of agency and a belief in themselves to succeed.
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The relationships we build with our teenagers last years, and we act as an ongoing positive force in their lives. Not only do our participants play in these tournaments, but our more veteran youth come full circle and act as paid staff to supervise and run almost all aspects of the events. They can take on the roles of coaches, referees, monitors, and even act as “security,” facilitating a major sense of community, instilling a deep responsibility in them, and allowing them to act as mentors to the younger participants. We are proud that our kids come back to us, year after year, as this signifies that we’re meeting our goal of keeping them safe.
By offering our more veteran participants the opportunity to work Journeys Oregon events, we show them both discipline and responsibility, and more importantly, they become mentors to our younger students, allowing the process of growth and giving to come full circle. We estimate that over the years, we have seen over 150 of our young players go on to study and graduate from college.