Hi Jermain,

 

First off, condolences on the loss of your close friend. I know how difficult that can be and I empathize with you during this difficult time, and pray that you can get through this.

 

I’m sorry that this letter did not reach you sooner. The last 12 months have been rough for my family and I, as my father had a leg amputation, and my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.  As you can imagine it was tough for me, but even tougher for (my son) as he had to balance that bad news alongside transitioning from Junior High to High School, losing friends, and navigating the daily challenges of being a teenager and finding himself as a person. This year was very rough on him mentally.

 

I just wanted to thank you and the entire Project 105 team as you guys were an outlet for him physically and mentally during this tough time without knowing what he was going through.  When the news broke about my mother, he took it very hard and the only thing that kept his mind off of it was basketball. And not basketball in general, but playing basketball with Project 105. You guys got him through a rough patch in his life and I will forever be grateful. The family atmosphere and welcoming arms from you, Donasia, James, and everyone else who works alongside Project 105 made all of the difference. He started just going to the clinics as he was learning himself and developing a love for the game. He only started playing about 3 years ago, he didn’t care for basketball prior to that. He started playing in the recreation league and once he joined the AAU team, he really fell in love with the game. (My son's) mother and I are not together but we work together on raising him into a well rounded individual. He lives with her in Mount Vernon but spends a lot of his time with me, my wife, and his sister in Ossining. Most people thinks that he lives here because he’s around so much. There were times when it was difficult to get him to practice or games due to circumstances like work and prior obligations, or even just helping to take care of my parents in the Bronx, but I made sure he got there because he expressed his love for 105. And just because I saw how you guys operated, it didn’t bother me to make it happen for the teams sake and his sake regardless if I was sick, or just tired from a long day and didn’t want to leave Ossining to drive to the Bronx or Mount Vernon to pick him up for practice, just to turnaround and bring him back home when it was over and drive back to Ossining. Needless to say I racked up a lot of miles on my car, but I didn't care. Project 105 meant the world to him and still does. You should have seen the way he lit up when I brought the Project 105 uniforms home to him. He played on his Junior High School team during 8th grade and there were challenges on that team as they were in their first year. Sometimes there would occasionally be conflicts in scheduling of games and he would always want to choose 105 over the school team after much debate between himself and I, even though his school team was filled with his closest friends. He started to understand what player development was all about and he waned to develop into a better player more than anything. He just felt like he was getting a better “education” from you guys.  I love that Project 105 stresses academics as well - that was a very important part of it for me. You guys also thought him accountability for his actions, which I loved! No one played favorites.

 

Aside from being there for him, your player development is unmatched. School was closed for a holiday recently and he wanted me to go to House of Sports with him to play basketball. Now that he’s older, I try to give him his space and I don’t stick around to watch him and his friends play as much. But that day I stayed and we played. I was SHOCKED to see how much he had improved since the last time I watched him play during a 105 game. He broke out of his scared/nervous shell and wasn’t afraid to show me what he learned from working with you guys. My mind was blown, I couldn’t have been any happier to see the improvement in his game. His game improved drastically and I can’t wait to see it improve some more. The ball handling, passing and shooting drills paid off. I always tell him that drills and practice make the difference but you guys made it a reality. I write this as he is at tryouts for his High School team in the Bronx. He was very nervous this morning because he said there were a lot of good players at the school and he's worried he will not make the team. But he stayed positive and said that if he didn't make the team, then he would train harder with you guys to get better and try again next year. You guys were the motivation for his work ethic with basketball.

 

There are many programs that I can put him into between the Bronx and Ossining, but him and I want to support anything Project 105 related. My daughter is 9 years old and watches (my son) play and mimics him now. I would love to get her into your program as well but she has a lot on her plate with gymnastics, dance, and cheer-leading, but I will get her involved at some point.  I hope you guys can get all of the funding necessary to continue and grow into what could be the best thing for the community that we live in. I didn’t grow up with these opportunities, so I value what you are doing for the community. Whatever I can do to support, please feel free to reach out to me.

 

We can’t wait to start playing again. And sorry for the length of this email, I know that you're a very busy man but you guys mean a lot to me and my family.

 

Father of an improved player