NIU hosted a basketball tournament for juvenile youth on campus March 26 as part of an initiative held by the NIU College of Education’s Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education.
The basketball tournament consisted of five competing teams from the Chicago, Grafton, Harrisburg, St. Charles and Warrenville Illinois Youth Centers.
The teams contained five to seven juvenile youths, all chosen based on good behavior, staff recommendations and expressed interest in the tournament.
The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) is a state juvenile corrections agency which focuses on the rehabilitation of juvenile delinquent youths back into society.
NIU and the Illinois Youth Center came together in 2018 to create project FLEX (Fitness, Leadership, EXperience). Project FLEX is a research and outreach organization focused on providing physical fitness programs and organizing events for juveniles.
The IDJJ and FLEX also began their partnership in 2018 when FLEX launched their programs at IDJJ’s Phoenix Emerging Adult Career & Education (PEACE) center.
FLEX recruited student volunteers from NIU to check pre-approved guests, serve catered lunch, referee, cheer and participate early to determine seeding in the youth for the tournament bracket.
IDJJ staff held practices for weeks leading up to the tournament and approximately 45 staffers served as coaches and cheerleaders during the event. Uniforms and shoes were acquired by the IDJJ and given to players.
Dr. Zachary Wahl-Alexander, associate professor of kinesiology at NIU and co-founder of Project FLEX, believes that FLEX work gives juvenile youths access to experiences that their circumstances limit.
“We’re trying to provide these real-world experiences for the kids – these realistic opportunities that they would have if they weren’t incarcerated,” Wahl-Alexander said.
Youths from the PEACE Center at St. Charles won the tournament. They returned to their youth center with a large trophy for their victory.
One youth for the St. Charles team gave his opinion on the tournament.
“I like the feeling of how everyone played together and played well, with no problems.”
