Urging Kids To Give Life Their Best Shot

Teens' Basketball Event Aims to Fight Drug Use

By Kafia A. Hosh

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Towering teenager Ben Walker, a high school athlete, remembers a friend asking him to split a beer one night last summer.

Surprised by the offer, Ben quickly declined. "It kind of took me off guard," said the 15-year-old Loudoun Valley High School student.

It was just one example of the easy access that Loudoun County teenagers have to drugs and alcohol, Ben said.

"You know where to get it if you want to get it," said John McCray, 15. He also attends Loudoun Valley in Purcellville. "The option's always there."

The challenge isn't finding drugs, but rather avoiding them, the students said.

To help their peers meet that challenge, Ben, John and two other Loudoun Valley sophomores, Michael Wallace and Langley Barth, have organized a three-on-three basketball tournament that Loudoun Valley will host Saturday.

The free event will offer information about substance abuse prevention and treatment. To give it teen appeal, the organizers are including gift x cards for the winning teams, a DJ spinning hip-hop and dance music, and performances from high school cheerleading and step teams. Joe Harrington, assistant men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland, will be the featured speaker.

Photo: Susan Biddle

Loudoun Valley High School sophomores Michael Wallace, Ben Walker, John McCray, all 15, and Langley Barth (not pictured), 16, have been hard at work for the past year planning a 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament that promotes drug awareness among teens. The event is being held on April 18 and features University of Maryland Coach Joe Harrington as its guest speaker. The teens are members of a county-operated teen program that promotes substance abuse prevention.

The four sophomores have spent the past few months planning the event. More than a dozen other students joined the effort, helping put up fliers in school hallways and creating a Facebook page about the tournament.

"I'm excited. We've been working on this for a while," John said.

The boys thought of the idea when they attended the Virginia conference of the Youth Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Project in the summer at Longwood College. The statewide program teaches teenagers how to create events to help make their schools and communities drug-free.

The program's Loudoun chapter includes 15 students from county high schools. After returning from the conference, the students were split into groups to work on events and activities. One group started mentoring middle school children. Another held a "Midnight Madness" event. The basketball tournament is the final group project of this school year.

Jennifer J. Rutkowski, teen services specialist in the county's parks and recreation department, said many teenagers experience boredom, which can lead them to try drugs or join gangs. In a 2007 county survey of 500 Loudoun public school students ages 14 to 18, about 68 percent said they were bored.

Rutkowski said boredom is more persistent among teens from western Loudoun, where there are no malls or youth-oriented outlets nearby.

"There's not that many activities out here, and especially in Purcellville," she said. "I think what's important is providing safe, positive outlooks for the kids."

Ben, John and Michael said they combat boredom by staying involved in high school sports. Ben also spends a lot of time at a local recreation center, where he plays pick-up basketball or works out. John plays the acoustic guitar and Michael plays video games to stay busy.

Michael, 15, said teenagers can avoid drug and alcohol use by befriending other teens who live drug-free lives.

"Friends have a lot of influence on you," he said. "Surrounding yourself with good friends is really important."

As youth outreach workers, the boys said, they emphasize the side effects of drug use: health problems, failed relationships and the risk of getting arrested and charged with a serious crime.

"It's not worth it based on what you have at stake," Ben said.

"There's major consequences," Michael added.

The Big Shots 3-on-3 Tournament will be held from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday at Loudoun Valley High School, 340 N. Maple Ave., Purcellville. To register a team, call the county parks and recreation department at 703-771-5308 or e-mail jennifer.rutkowski@loudoun.gov.

Tagged: alcohol, basketball, drugs, J.E.B. Stuart High School, Loudoun Valley High School, students, teens, tournament

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