Meet Casey
Long-time participant of PeacePlayers United States
September 10, 2021
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Like many youth who are a part of PeacePlayers U.S. which launched just a few years ago, Casey is still at the beginning of her PeacePlayers journey. When Casey first joined PeacePlayers in Detroit, she had heard about basketball and about leadership, but it didn’t take long for Casey to realize there was more to it than that, it was about exposing kids in her community to new opportunities; it was about leveling the playing field:
“It would be the first year, when a person [came in] to teach the kids about how to apply to college, what more they can do, they not only have to go to college, but they can go to like a trade school and learn other skills and it's just, it's crazy to see that, because in the school they don't learn anything about like their secondary education like what they can do after high school after they graduate and it's just like, yeah this is it, this is the program kids need to learn more about. Like, I wish PeacePlayers was all over Michigan.”
Even though Casey is pretty new to PeacePlayers, she is already one of our biggest advocates. And sometimes, that advocacy is as simple as wearing a t-shirt. “When I wear my PeacePlayers shirt around, going outside and stuff I do get asked about it, and I can explain to them, like this is a program that impacts the youth, helps the youth, grows the youth, and this is cool because they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve never heard of them.’ I’m just like, ‘Okay, I’ll send you some more information.”
“Being asked what’s PeacePlayers, I get to explain to people that’s outside of PeacePlayers like this is a program that evolves you using basketball, but we don’t we don’t only teach basketball we teach other skills, lifelong skills that they can use.”
In celebration of the 20th Anniversary, we are featuring our long-time participants all month long! Be sure to follow along on social media @peaceplayersintl.
