Photo by: Bradford Glazier
Lehigh And Four Patriot League Schools Host Event With Philadelphia Youth Basketball
10/1/2024 12:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA – Philadelphia Youth Basketball (PYB) hosted a community event at the Alan Horwitz "Sixth Man" Center this past Saturday in conjunction with five Patriot League institutions, including Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks were joined by Army West Point, Bucknell, Colgate and Lafayette for a day of youth clinics, a lunch meet and greet as well as intrasquad scrimmages for each of the teams.
"This was a great event and a great opportunity for our players," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "They got the opportunity to give back and be engaged and be involved with this youth community. The fact that they were out there demonstrating, connecting, leading and serving are all great qualities that we would want for any of our leaders coming out of Lehigh."
PYB, which was founded in 2015 by Lehigh alum Kenny Holdsman '89, aims to provide Philadelphia youth with an opportunity to gain the skillset to not only succeed on the basketball court, but also in their education, careers and lives.
"We created PYB to build a holistic, robust organization and a world-class center to create opportunities for thousands of young people to transform their lives in positive ways," said Holdsman. "I've devoted my professional and community life to helping lower-income kids to self-determine. PYB is a convergence of my values, lived and career experiences, and relationships of the past 50 years."
PYB and the Sixth Man Center partnered with the five Patriot League schools for the first time on Saturday to both help carry out the values of the organization as well as get an opportunity for each school to have their own scrimmages as well. Holdsman says that they day was a massive success and hopes it can lead to a deeper relationship between PYB and the Patriot League.
"The day was an extraordinary success," said Holdsman. "The college student-athletes brought palpable warmth and energy on and off the court which immediately resonated with our middle school athletes. During lunch, I witnessed laughter, real conversations and a genuine interest in connecting with our kids. We hope to make this preseason event an annual fixture on our calendar and see it expand to include all Patriot League teams, both men's and women's."
While the event did not include every Patriot League school, Holdsman was certainly happy to see his alma mater helping to spread the message and values of his organization.
"I felt great pride seeing the Lehigh coaching staff and players in the Sixth Man Center working closely with PYB's student-athletes and coach-mentors," said Holdsman. "Coach Brett Reed was incredibly generous in sharing his knowledge and encouragement with our coach-mentors."
Like Lehigh men's basketball on Facebook, follow on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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"This was a great event and a great opportunity for our players," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "They got the opportunity to give back and be engaged and be involved with this youth community. The fact that they were out there demonstrating, connecting, leading and serving are all great qualities that we would want for any of our leaders coming out of Lehigh."
PYB, which was founded in 2015 by Lehigh alum Kenny Holdsman '89, aims to provide Philadelphia youth with an opportunity to gain the skillset to not only succeed on the basketball court, but also in their education, careers and lives.
"We created PYB to build a holistic, robust organization and a world-class center to create opportunities for thousands of young people to transform their lives in positive ways," said Holdsman. "I've devoted my professional and community life to helping lower-income kids to self-determine. PYB is a convergence of my values, lived and career experiences, and relationships of the past 50 years."
PYB and the Sixth Man Center partnered with the five Patriot League schools for the first time on Saturday to both help carry out the values of the organization as well as get an opportunity for each school to have their own scrimmages as well. Holdsman says that they day was a massive success and hopes it can lead to a deeper relationship between PYB and the Patriot League.
"The day was an extraordinary success," said Holdsman. "The college student-athletes brought palpable warmth and energy on and off the court which immediately resonated with our middle school athletes. During lunch, I witnessed laughter, real conversations and a genuine interest in connecting with our kids. We hope to make this preseason event an annual fixture on our calendar and see it expand to include all Patriot League teams, both men's and women's."
While the event did not include every Patriot League school, Holdsman was certainly happy to see his alma mater helping to spread the message and values of his organization.
"I felt great pride seeing the Lehigh coaching staff and players in the Sixth Man Center working closely with PYB's student-athletes and coach-mentors," said Holdsman. "Coach Brett Reed was incredibly generous in sharing his knowledge and encouragement with our coach-mentors."
Like Lehigh men's basketball on Facebook, follow on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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