WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Working at THEARC: Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus in Southeast Washington, Marco Coleman is helping children in a familiar place.
“I grew up at this club. It saved my life. It gave me a place to feel wanted,” Coleman, the 28-year-old Washington native, said. “It gave me a place to feel I could chase my dreams, and the outside noise didn’t matter as much.”
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The kids that Coleman now supports received a special visit Thursday from the Washington Mystics and the Washington Wizards for a basketball clinic.
“We want the kids to be the future,” Mystics guard Brittney Sykes, fresh off a 21-point performance in a win over the Indiana Fever last night, said. “But how do you do that without tapping into them? So I think that’s that was the biggest thing about helping in the community.”
As part of their beyond the baseline initiative in the district, the Mystics and Wizards are planning to refurbish a basketball court in each Washington, D.C. ward, and about a dozen total. Monumental Sports decided it made most sense for THEARC in Ward 8 to receive the first refurbishment.
“These guys and ladies go to work about a mile from here. So this is our neighborhood,” senior vice president of Monumental Basketball John Thompson III said. “This is the first court that we’ve done, and we wanted it to be in Ward eight, because this is our neighborhood.”
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Sykes, along with many other members of the Mystics and head coach Sydney Johnson, attended the event. Head coach Brian Keefe, Kyshawn, Anthony Gill and others represented the Wizards. Both teams’ mascots celebrated with the children too.
“For us to be down the street, I think it is imperative that we do tap into the community that we’re around first,” Sykes said. “We’re helping a lot of children be able to come and have a safe haven to just play basketball … Come together, join ideas, join mindsets and create something even better out of this facility.”
For Coleman and others who have lived in this community, a new court goes a long way.
“It’s the second renovation that I’ve seen done,” Coleman told DC News Now. “So this partnership and for them to keep coming back and helping the community, this is a great thing.”
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And now, the community is ready to enjoy its new court.
“We are gonna use it to our best ability and definitely going to have fun with it, and we’re definitely grateful that we were able to get this court,” Coleman said. “It looks good, it’s gonna feel even better to play on, so I can’t wait.”
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