The garden of Barclays Center continues to stretch across the Brooklyn lawn as we mark the opening of basketball’s new flower.
Courtesy of BSE Global and the Social Justice Fund, the New York Liberty and Brooklyn Nets introduced the Brooklyn Basketball Training Center on September 25. The aim of the new facility is to host dynamic basketball programming for local youth aged 6-17.
There was no shortage of star-power during the grand opening of the facility on Flatbush Avenue. Members of the Liberty and Nets introduced the center to the community, followed by some hoops with fans. Liberty superstar Breanna Stewart shared a few sentiments regarding what this hub represents for the youngsters of the neighborhood.
“This is extremely inspiring,” Stewart said. “To reminisce and think about what it would mean for a young kid to come in here, dream to be [a professional player] and literally look across the street and see Barclays Center, and know that’s the goal…
I think this is something that everyone’s gonna want to be a part of.”
The ambience of the event was just as inviting as the new practice ground. Throughout the evening, participants took part in photo-ops, shooting contests, and practice drills with players and coaches.
This development is already making quite the impression in Brooklyn. And for BSE Global CEO Sam Zussman, this is everything he could have hoped for.
“The dream becomes a reality,” he told The Local W. “I still, sometimes, pinch myself. I know that this place is where real human beings are going to come. Real, young adults are gonna develop. They’re gonna build character, perseverance, and learn the importance of discipline and hard work, whether they apply it on the basketball court or anywhere else in life. If you can contribute in any way to that journey and that development, you’re a very, very rich man emotionally.”
Also in attendance was Gregg Bishop, whose work with the Social Justice Fund is not to be understated. His latest triumph of a new basketball court in Bedford-Stuyvesant’s Jackie Robinson Playground finds his influence paramount across the entire borough, as he now finds himself in the middle of yet another victorious venture.
The new basketball amenity is quite more than Flatbush’s newest installment. Instead, the Center is New York’s premier basketball sanctuary, fostering the next generation of ballplayers, one dribble at a time.
140 Flatbush Avenue; where the legends of the future rise in the present.