NIU Project FLEX holds youth basketball tournament

DeKALB – Northern Illinois University recently held a youth basketball tournament for the five Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice youth centers.

The tournament was organized by the university’s Project FLEX initiative.

Project FLEX was created by the NIU College of Education’s Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education. The initiative utilizes graduate student to provide rehabilitative sports and character development to youth in the department’s secure youth centers.

“What’s so powerful about Project FLEX in particular is, yes, they’re doing sports activities, but underlying all of that is really a focus on building life skills, setting goals, and working through frustrations,” IDJJ acting director Rob Vickery said in a news release. “This was a culminating event where the youth were able to apply all those skills.”

The teams were from the IDJJ’s Chicago, Grafton, Harrisburg, St. Charles, and Warrenville youth centers. The teams included five to seven members. The team members were selected based on a record of good behavior, staff recommendations, and interest in tournament participation.

NIU student volunteers were recruited to check-in pre-approved guests, serve luncheon, referee games, and cheer for the teams. The university also had student teams participate in the competition to determine the tournament bracket’s seeding.

“We’re trying to provide these real-world experiences for the kids – these realistic opportunities that they would have if they weren’t incarcerated,” NIU associate professor of kinesiology and Project FLEX co-founder Zach Wahl-Alexander, Ph.D., also said in the news release.

The department had 45 staff serve as team coaches. The staff held tournament practices, obtained uniforms and shoes, and ensured safety protocols were in place at the tournament. Travel basketball teams manager Tommie Meyers also donated 20 basketball shoe pairs to tournament participants.

“It was cool to see some of them just zoom out of being an incarcerated person and just feel like a normal kid, and I think it was the exact opportunity where they got to feel like a high school kid for the first time,” NIU associate professor of kinesiology and Project FLEX co-founder Jenn Jacobs, Ph.D., said in the news release. “Rob Vickery and the IDJJ staff are just visionaries, and it takes courage to say yes to things that have not been done before.”

“While the games themselves were exciting, the true significance of the event lays in its power to bring people together in pursuit of a shared goal – basketball just happened to be the catalyst,” IDJJ leisure time activities supervisor st. Anthony Lloyd also said in the new release. “I firmly believe that meaningful experiences have the power to shift perspectives. Outsiders will now see our youth as more than their past. IDJJ staff witnessed firsthand that positive outcomes are achievable when we work in unison. Most importantly, our youth will begin to believe that their current circumstances do not define their future – they can achieve and experiencing greatness.”

The winning team was the Phoenix Emerging Adult Career and Education Center at St. Charles. The team was awarded a tournament trophy.

“We worked very hard to prepare for the tournament and showed dedication in order to make their mothers proud,” a St. Charles basketball team member said in the news release. When asked about his experience in the tournament, one youth participant from IDJJ’s PEACE Center at St. Charles stated, “I like the feeling of how everyone played together and played well, with no problems.”

“My favorite memory was a full court pass to one of my teammates for a bucket,” another St. Charles team youth also said in the news release. “I felt like I was in high school playing for a high school team,” said a Pere Marquette team youth said in the news release.

The tournament is the culmination of the initiative’s programming years in the IDJJ’s secure youth centers. Project Flex began its justice department programs at the PEACE Center in 2018. The programs are designed to help youth develop positive habits for post-release success. The initiative currently operates several programs in three IDJJ facilities.

The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice was created with the mandate of safely housing and rehabilitating youth in its custody in 2006.

Project Flex’s goal is to reduce recidivism rates and set up youth for post-incarceration success through physical and mental health, character development, career exploration, and higher education access evidence-based programs