Forty years and these kids are still red hot!
Some 400 kids came out to John Dewey High School on May 17 to get their trophies for playing in the Flames youth basketball league — which became the first sports program to break Brooklyn’s racial and geographic lines in 1974.
“It’s a complete mix of Brooklyn, we’ve got kids of ever nationality and every neighborhood,” said league founder Gerard Papa, a Bensonhurst native.
Every child who played the entire season in ages eight through 20 program received an award, reflecting the Flames’ model of tolerance and respect. Papa said that unlike other leagues, every kid in the Flames gets his time on the court.
“With us, you’re going to play. You’re not just going to be on the team, you’re going to play. That’s what people come to us for,” Papa said.
Things weren’t always so easy. When Papa sparked the Flames four decades ago, black children from Coney Island and the Marlboro Houses scarcely dared venture into all-white Bensonhurst. Both African-American and Caucasian youth who participated in the new mixed-race league faced threats and intimidation — as did Papa himself.
“It was segregated as could be. You literally risked your life crossing out of your neighborhood,” the Columbia University-educated attorney recalled.
But Papa persisted, and believes he paved the way to the diverse Coney Island and Bensonhurst of today.
“It’s almost funny, when you mention this stuff at trophy night, and the kids can’t even relate to that, thank God. We changed this whole part of Brooklyn,” said Papa. “I’ve been doing this 40 years, and I wonder to myself sometimes if it was worth it, and I think we’ve done a lot of good.”
