Out of NO Way, Coach Derrick Stanton is Making a Way

In my column today, I want to share information about two organizations that one man is helping to take to the next level.

- Thera Martin

As we find ourselves in the midst of the holiday season and the spirit of giving, I am hoping that this column will inspire some of our amazing SCOOP readers to contribute to this worthy cause. What is the cause? Giving our youth something positive to do to keep them busy, to exert their energy in a positive way, and to teach them some life skills along the way.

Enter Coach Derrick Stanton, who retired from the United States Army.

Coach Derrick Stanton coaches for two groups; he's the head coach at Murrell Dobbins High School at 22nd and W. Lehigh Avenue in North Philadelphia, and he's also the founder and head coach for Tri-State Basketball, Inc. a nonprofit organization for male boys and teens that he founded.

Here's some of what Coach Stanton shared with me when I interviewed him recently.

"I'm doing what I do because it's needed; I grew up pretty poor, and we didn't have summer vacations and things like that--the only thing we had was basketball.

Basketball, is what kept me going as a kid, and that's pretty much what kept all the boys I knew back in those days; basketball kept our whole community going. I figured that's the same way I could give back today. Basketball, particularly in the summer months, used to make us so happy I figured I could do the same thing now. I know a lot of people who like to think that children today are different from us and the way we grew up back in the day, but if we provide our youth with the same opportunities that we had, they will do many of the same things that we did. We like to see our children going outside and enjoying recreational activities instead of sitting in front of YouTube all the time or playing on their cell phones. Kids are kids, and I think if we provide them with the opportunity, we'll find that today's youth are just like we were; they have dreams and visions for the future."