Retroaction Sports: Not just Basketball…

Retroaction Sports, a group out of Philadelphia, PA are living up to the old saying “It’s better to give… than receive”.  The group has created a series of workouts for High School basketball players, both male and female, looking to take their game seriously and possibly gain some attention in the form of a college coach or a scout watching them play.  Most of these kids are from the heart of Philadelphia where many of their peers are heavily involved in drugs, guns, and gangs.  Retroactive Sports aims to not only give these kids a place to get away from the negatives of their reality but also puts them in position to possibly get noticed and potentially earn a college scholarship from playing the game they love.

For the first workout about 60 High School players have registered.  They start the workout off the same as any major basketball camp would, a warm up stretch.  After the youth are warmed up they immediately are broken into four groups.  The Imhotep gymnasium starts to get louder.  Sneakers squeaking on the floor as one station focuses on defensive slides, another station geared towards offensive ball rotations.  In the crowd I can see a few scouts taking notes at one station.  Players are going the extra mile in attempt to catch an eye of one of the scouts.  After about 30 minutes of stations the players got 5 minutes to enjoy a quick water break.  You can feel the tension in the air.  Each player trying to prove that they belong all while trying to humiliate their opponent on the court.  As the players regroup they are met by a gentleman named DelGreco Wilson.  Mr. Wilson is a man who has seen the best players of Philadelphia walk through his doors.  In a gentle tone he tells me “I’ve seen all the greats in this city…Some of them you have never heard of…why??  Because their grades were too bad and they were academically ineligible to participate in collegiate basketball”.  He has one wish for all the youth at the workout.  That wish is for them to do whatever they need to do to become academically eligible.

After about 20 minutes of Mr. Wilson speaking you can see the restless tension setting in.  A camper sighs heavily and says under his breath “I just wanna play ball!!”.  Mr. Wilson gazes at the crowd and bluntly tells them that without good grades that a future in basketball simply isn’t possible.   So if they weren’t up for the task of getting themselves mentally on track to be a student athlete then they should probably pack their stuff up and leave the gym.  Mr. Wilson wrapped up his presentation soon thereafter and the workout resumed.

The teams were sorted out quickly and the scrimmage games started out fast.  Players from both teams were hitting shots.  As the time winded down defense came more and more into play.  It felt as if there was a lot at stake at these games.  Players were playing for pride and not letting up one inch.  Every player on that court had a sense of dignity that they were not willing to sacrifice for anything in the world.  In scrimmages like this defense isn’t always something that players are willing to dedicate themselves to.  However, on this day, there were a number of players who dedicated themselves to playing tough defense.  That’s what college coaches and scouts want to see.  Players who thrive on both ends of the court, offense and defense.  As the pace of the games slowed down it started to feel as if these games were more chess matches rather than checkers.  Philadelphia has the reputation of having tough, hard nosed basketball players.  There were some diamonds in the rough in this batch of ball players. You will surely see a few play ball at the next level.  I want to send a huge shout to Retroaction Sports for the hospitality. The team over there has been great for the city and to the culture.  Rasool Hajj, BLF Sports and the rest of the Retroaction team are respectable individuals giving  back to a community that needs more outlets for the youth.  I look forward to seeing what they have in store for the Philly basketball scene.

Notable Players

Boys

Ahmad Williams:  Plymouth Whitemarsh High School (Class of 2018)

Naheen McLeod: Plymouth Whitemarsh High School (Class of 2019)

Kiyon Hardy: Shipley School (Class of 2017)

Rodney Simon: Rocktop Academy (Post Grad)

Girls

Kiera Henry:  Academy Palumbo (Class of 2017)

Ayanna Mizeek:  Mastery Charter North (Class of 2017)

Deja Williams:  Imhotep Charter/Albany (Class of 2017)

Lateefa Cane:  Mastery South (Class of 2018)