Bayside’s Blue Chips basketball team earns
second place fi nish in citywide championships
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
Dyckman Park in Upper
Manhattan — home of the
legendary NCAA and NBA
sanctioned Dyckman league
and the “Mecca of street basketball”
— hosted the inaugural
NYPD Blue Chips citywide
basketball championship on
Tuesday, Aug. 17.
For Blue Chips creator
NYPD Lt. Michael Almonte,
the finals were the culmination
of the dedication of the
200 NYPD police officers, who
meet “their kids” for mentoring
sessions and athletic practice
on Tuesdays and game
days on Thursdays.
Almonte and NYPD Officer
Darnell Gatling came up
with the year-round program,
which focuses on bridging the
gap between the police and
young people through mentoring
and sports and is managed
by the NYPD Patrol Services
Bureau. They pitched
their idea to NYPD Chief of
Patrol Juanita Holmes, who
immediately embraced their
concept.
The Blue Chips program
officially kicked off on July 1,
and it has already proven to be
a great success in this short
time, with almost 1,000 youngsters
participating.
Almonte and Gatling
shared that they have seen a
positive change in the kids
and their attitude toward the
cops.
“It is amazing. You these
kids, they don’t call officers
cops. It’s ‘coach,'” Gatling
said. “They look at them as big
brothers and mentors, more
than anything. You see genuine
joy when they walk into
the gym. They see their coach;
they’re ecstatic. We see these
kids hugging their coach, and
that bond is unbreakable.”
Almonte shared that some
of the kids were around gang
members and were recruited
by them, but the basketball
team steered them away.
“Because they developed
that strong bond with their
coaches, with the cops, they
no longer want to be associated
with those kids,” Almonte
said. “They want to continue
in the program. And our job
here as officers is not to show
that every cop is good or that
no cops are bad. It’s to have
real conversations, to let the
kids know that we’re human.”
He underlined that the program’s
goal is to build a strong
foundation for the kids and
create a generation of leaders.
“These kids are the future
cops, the future lawyers, the
future councilmen, the future
presidents,” Almonte said.
Chief of Patrols Office Isa
Abbassi noted that Blue Chips
goes beyond athletics and
sports.
“This is about mentoring
and career development.
Most importantly, it is about
building relationships,” Abbassi
said. “The relationships
you forge with each other and
with police officers are going
to carry New York City
through the next generation
in policing and community
relationships.”
Deputy Commissioner
for Community Partnership,
Chauncey Parker, said that
the NYPD invested its resources
into young people because
officers care.
“It’s because we love you,”
Parker said. “That is why
these police officers risk their
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.10 COM | AUG. 27 - SEPT. 2, 2021
life. That’s why they became
police officers, is to help people
just because they love the
community that they serve,
particularly young people,
and today is a great example
of that.”
Dunking it out on the
court that has seen the likes
of basketball greats Kevin
Durant and Kyrie Irving, the
finalists from the 111th Precinct
in Queens North and
the 17th Precinct in Manhattan
South, played in front of
packed “house” with fellow
Blue Chips players, family
members and NYPD officers
cheering them on.
Both teams came in undefeated
after 72 teams from 75
precincts played for a spot in
the finals during the regular
season.
After a tense second half,
Manhattan beat Queens — by
a mere point — taking home
the coveted trophy.
111th Precinct Blue Chips
players Yianni Xaras, Brendon
Lee and Matthew de Leon
agreed that the program,
which also included graffiti
paint over and community
work, provided an excellent
opportunity to spend the
summer.
“Playing during the summer
is the best thing I could do
to keep healthy. I’ve learned
more sportsmanship and to
work better with my team,”
17-year-old Yianni Xaras said.
Brendon Lee, 17, said that
the relationship between
the NYPD and the players
improved.
“I think our relationship
grew like as the summer went
on. I learned leadership and
helping out the community
with the cops,” Brendon said.
Matthew de Leon joined
the program at the recommendation
of his high school
coach and because he “was
down with the opportunity to
play here.”
About his team, he said, “I
feel like we don’t have ‘a’ best
player. I feel like our team is
collaboratively a team and everyone
is equal.”
The program not only benefits
the teenagers. Mentoring
and coaching the young
people between 12 and 17 is a
morale booster for the police
officers, who say that the program
has enriched their lives.
NYPD Youth Coordination
Officer Michael Cillis, who
also serves as a mentor and
head coach of the 111th Precinct
Blue Chips, shared that
the players treat him like one
of their friends.
“During COVID and everything
that happened last year,
a lot of us were down with our
job and not very happy,” Cillis
said. “Then we started this
program, and it just brought
new light to what I go to work
for.”His assistant coach, NYPD
Youth Coordination Officer
Kristen Kirby, added, “Having
this relationship with the
kids makes us feel more positive.
They like hanging out
with us and enjoy our company,
and vice versa. So I think
that’s an enrichment.”
Head coach of the 17th Precinct
Blue Chips team, NYPD
officer Hakim Constantine,
said about his team, “The kids
came together to season, and
they gave us a heck of a season.”
Constantine shared that
he immediately jumped on
the chance to join the program
and said that it was
needed given the increase in
crime and teenage violence.
He emphasized that it wasn’t
solely about athletics but,
more importantly, giving
teenagers the tools to succeed
in life.
Constantine explained
that the program provides
workshops helping young
people with resumes, dress for
success and financial intelligence,
as well as a chance to
talk about personal matters.
“Sometimes they forget
that I’m even a cop. They talk
to me about issues that are
going on not only in the community
but in the family,”
Constantine said. “They can
relate to me whether I’m an
older brother figure, whether
I’m a father figure, or whether
I’m just a figure of authority.
A lot of teenagers, they need
someone to call on.”
Young people interested in
signing up with Blue Chips
can contact bluechips@nypd.
org, or head over to their local
precinct.
The Blue Chips basketball teams from the 111th (blue jersey) and 17th (white jersey) NYPD precincts
compete for the championship title at Dyckmann Park. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
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