Sports Symposium @ Harlem Children’s Zone

Athletes for Charity and Harlem Children's Zone hosted a Sports Symposium on Saturday, April 25, 2009 in Harlem, NY.  The symposium titled "How to Slam Dunk without a Basketball: Exploring Career Opportunities in the World of Basketball," featured several panelists involved in basketball in different career capacities.  The panelists included Jason Curry (Big Apple Basketball), Ben Osborne (SLAM Magazine), Shannon Joyner (NBA), Cal Ramsey (Knicks), Jeff Scott (Nets), Daryl Smith (D-Trained), Jamone West (ESPN) and Juel Wiggan (New Heights). 

“Our mission was to expose them to the business side of sports and inform them about the myriad of career opportunities that are available in the sports that they are most passionate in” states Cathleen Laporte, Founder and President of Athletes for Charity .  “If our combined efforts helped encourage just a few of our youth to work harder in school and have a ‘Plan B’ in life, our efforts are not in vain.  Together we are influencing the minds of our youth to achieve great heights in life, which in turn benefits our overall communities in the long run.”

Over 150 high school students attended the symposium and received gift bags containing a copy of SLAM Magazine, along with NBA and Showtime items.  Select students from the High School of Sports Management and Harlem Children’s Zone’s Promise Academy were invited to join the panelist for a pre-symposium lunch and meet and greet session.  During the symposium, each panelist shared their personal backgrounds, career pathways to sports, and offered advice to youth interested in exploring careers in sports.