UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX11) -- Lots of kids love basketball.
But do those same kids love books as much?
There’s a new program started by a high school student to encourage both.
It’s called Hoops and Books and is a free program for 8 to 10-year-olds across the five boroughs founded by 17-year-old Nico Warren. Its mission is to combine the love of basketball with a passion for reading.
Warren, who plays varsity basketball at a collegiate school, offers free coaching and free books as part of the mind-body connection.
“I knew a lot of schools during Covid were cutting out PE and it’s unfair that a lot of kids were not getting the opportunity to play sports,” Nico Warren, the founder of Hoops and Books, told PIX11 News. “To develop their athletic and academic skills hand in hand,” he added.
Basketball coach and former professional player Laurence Jolicoeur believes so strongly in the mission of Hoops and Books that he donates his Pro Reps gym on West 84 Street for these sessions.
Jolicoeur says he would not have had the opportunities he has had in life if it had not been for basketball.
There’s even a book detailing his “victorious journey” for young readers.
“It represents everything that was given to me as a basketball player and I saw it as a chance to give back to help others that I see in the same way as I was as a child,” Jolicoeur told PIX11 News.
After hoops practice, there is a reading session with books about Michael Jordan, Jolicoeur, and others.
To the parents and the kids, Hoops and Books is a godsend.
“We have to work his body and his brain,” Susan Willis, mother of 10-year-old Sam, told PIX11 News. “We tire him out and then let him read,” she added.
And lots of the young people in this program just love it.
“Gym is one of my favorite times,” Sam Willis, 10 years old, told PIX11 News. “I’m a sports guy,” he added, “but I like reading too.”
The founder of Hoops and Books is hoping to turn this program into weekly sessions.
For more information, go here.
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