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Stewart & Friends
pose Triple Threat in helping kids
By SAM WILSON
Steve Stewart works as custodian for the Board of Education.
“It’s laid back,” he said. “It’s a good job, good benefits.”
While cleaning is Stewart’s job, basketball is his passion. Even though his high school career ended 15 years ago, he continues to play, both in The Deveroes Summer Basketball League for John Flessa Law Office and in other local leagues. When he’s not playing, he’s running a youth basketball camp, Cincinnati Triple Threat, with childhood friends in the West End, the area where they grew up.
“The youth camp is for kids who don’t get the opportunity to play high school or junior high (basketball),” he said. “So I try to put them under my wing, run fundamental camps with them and run youth leagues.”
Stewart had a high school career in which he won numerous honors, playing first at the now-defunct Cincinnati Academy of Physical Education and then at Taft High School. But college basketball offers didn’t come his way. His Deveroes League career began when he was spotted on a playground.
“One of the guys came up to me and asked me if I wanted to play,” he said. “
And ever since then it’s been about seven years. I’ve got about five championships playing at Flessa.”
But The Deveroes League isn’t the only place Stewart has played since his high school days. On three occasions he’s qualified to play against the And 1 Mix Tape Tour when it came to Cincinnati.
“It looks fake,” Stewart said of the over-the-top brand of basketball. “But it’s not fake. It’s real.”
But Stewart’s game isn’t predicated on the tricks seen by And 1 players.
“I’ve got tricks, but I’m not on all that,” Stewart said. “I just keep it simple.”
Those values of keeping it simple on the basketball court are taught at the camp, one that preaches fundamentals and not flashy moves.
“We show them how to take wins and how to take losses,” Ronnell Wright, Stewart’s friend and co-founder of the camp, said. “Right now, we teach them the fundamentals, just learning basketball. It’s not about winning. It’s about learning the game, being prepared and respecting each other out there.”
Wright said the inspiration for their camp came from seeing another league.
“We saw this other guy, he was running a basketball league, and we saw the wrong that he was doing,” Wright said.
So, Wright and Stewart decided to form their own organization that would be run the way they saw fit.
“(Cincinnati Triple Threat) is a non-profit organization,” Wright said. “We don’t charge the kids. We teach them the fundamentals of basketball. It’s not about money with us. It’s about the kids and getting them off the streets.”
A typical day of camp begins like any day at the playground at West Liberty and John streets in the West End, with scattered groups of children of various ages shooting around and playing pickup games on the two courts. But as Wright arrives, along with fellow coaches Monty Johnson and Reginal Palmer, the event becomes more organized.
Initially, Johnson joins in with one of the groups, working with them on offensive one-on-one moves. Wright greets the approximately 30 children that show up, about 25 boys and five girls. When it seems time to begin, Wright, Johnson and Palmer organize the players at center court. Stewart will arrive later, work obligations have caused his tardiness.
When the players are at center court, Palmer chants, “1,2,3.” The players follow his cue and yell out, “Respect.”
After the brief meeting at center court, it’s time to begin the first drill. Three lines are formed at one baseline. Two players are stationed at the other end of the court to play defense.
One player from each line goes down the court, so the drill begins with a 3-on-2 offensive situation. After the three players attempt to score, the two defenders take the rebound and head for the other basket. The player who passed to the shooter in the previous sequence follows to play defense, thus creating a 2-on-1 situation. The other two original offensive players remain where they were to play defense in the next 3-on-2 as the drill repeats itself. The camp caters to children ages 7-17, so there is an occasional sighting of a mammoth teenager swatting a much younger child.
During the drill, numerous lessons come in from Wright, Johnson and Palmer. Some relate to basketball, such as where to position one’s self on defense when their team is outnumbered. Some are more general, as one participant is hounded for wearing his flip-flops to practice. When one boy slips a curse word, he’s promptly on the ground doing 25 push-ups. Palmer describes him as a good kid, an honors student at Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy. But a curse word at camp means discipline, whether in the form of push-ups, jumping jacks or being sent home. A water break during the drill provides the opportunity for Palmer to teach another lesson.
Two of the boys participating sneak off to leave during the break. Palmer notices and calls them back, telling them that a camper leaving early must advise a coach of their other commitment and check out. When the boys oblige, Palmer shakes their hands and they are on their way.
During their three years of camp, the coaches have had the support of Dale Mallory, now serving as a State Representative.
“You don’t know how any of these kids home lives are,” Mallory said. “You look at them right now, you don’t see a big difference. They’re all enjoying themselves in a nice setting. You don’t see any drug dealing within eyesight. Here come more kids. See, this is good stuff.”
The camp has the support of more than just Mallory. It sponsored by the Arts Consortium and the Community Action Agency. It’s also supported by the kids who keep coming back.
“Most people that started the camp, they just came with attitudes and stuff, no respect,” Adonis Larkin, a 16-year-old student at Western Hills High School, said. “Now everybody has high respect for each other on the team and everybody else on the streets.”
Markese Tolbert is friends with Larkin and is also a 16-year-old student at Western Hills High School. Like Larkin, Tolbert has been coming to the camp for three years.
“Well I’ve improved a lot,” Tolbert said. “I used to be terrible. I wouldn’t play any defense on anybody and I improved. My jump shot has improved, they’ve helped me with my free throws.”
More important than improving his play at both ends of the floor are the temptations that face Tolbert when he’s not at camp.
“They teach us a lot of things,” Tolber said. “They teach us about not having to be on the streets and keeping your head up and staying out of trouble.”
