The Brotherly Love League Foundation led by Novar Gadson had their Pro Am games/4th annual Celebrity Basketball live at the Alan Horwitz Sixth Man Center. Gadson has done a fantastic job putting events together, building this foundation, helping out the youth, getting everyone involved to help in a positive way. You get to see future stars play in these Pro Am games which has them get more confidence being in big games, high intensity and competitive. I met Gadson at an event with Jumaine Jones and has an inspiring story as he continues to honor his family.
About Novar Gadson
A Philadelphia native. Started playing basketball at the age of 16 for John Bartram High School. In just two 1/2 years of play broke the scoring record at Bartram surpassing Jelly Bean Joe Bryant the father of the late great Kobe Bryant becoming John Bartram High School all time leading scorer, Selected First Team All Public League and First Team All City and State his Senior Year He then went on to play as a 4 year starter at Rider University where he was Mid-Major Freshman of the year and a 2x all conference player.
He graduated in 2012 with a degree in Communications. After his graduation, he went on to play professionally overseas for various teams in Europe, South America and Asia. During his travels, Novar has earned forward of the year twice and 1st team all league honors 3x. Most recently, he is currently in his 12th season as a professional in Japan. He decided to create a pro-am summer league to showcase the tri-state area’s primer professional athletes and to develop a competitive, fun environment for the players to come and compete during their off-season but also to target the Mental Health issues that not only athletes but everyone endures daily. With the help of some close childhood friends, the Brotherly Love Pro-Am Summer League was born.
Mission
The Brotherly Love Pro-Am League (Brotherly Love) works to create equity, opportunity and lasting camaraderie by cultivating a network of professional athletes, centering both fitness and wellness to improve the physical, financial and mental health of communities in Philadelphia. In partnership with professional athletes, community members and youth, we are putting the ‘brotherly love’ back in the city.
Their program includes: Pro-Am basketball league, workforce development, youth engagement, violence prevention and food banks.
Vision: Brotherly Love seeks to create a Philadelphia that is grounded in community and guided by the spirit of basketball. They envision a city where peace takes the place of poverty; camaraderie over powers violence; and outcomes are determined by what people put in, rather than their inputs.
Values: the values are driven by our network of professional athletes who leverage their time and resources to uplift Black and marginalized Philadelphians, especially Black boys and men, people with exceptionalities and terminal illness and low income communities. The experience of our leadership and network reflect the communities we work with. The community is their family; this is the foundation around which all work is oriented.
Joy Activist “Half Time”
Joy is a channel for change and opportunity
Mutuality “The Oop”
Reaching back to pay it forward
Innovation “Huddle”
Invention is the teammate of history
Leadership “MVP”
Leadership is a collective effort
Youth of Tomorrow “Pre-Season”
The present is preparation
About Michael Ringgold - Director Of Basketball Operations
Another Philadelphia Native- Born and raised in the Logan area of Philadelphia. Michael played high school basketball at Freire Charter where he help capture charter league title in 2004. Ringgold transfer to the historic Roman Catholic for his last two years of high school basketball. While at Roman he became First Team All Catholic, MVP Of the catholic league, All City First Team and was a 1000 point career scorer. Michael also played his collegian career at Rider University.
Starting every game at Rider University, Ringgold scored over 1000 points s and 600 career rebounds. He was All Rookie team for MAAC and mid-major All-freshmen team, third team all conference junior and senior year. Ringgold was regarded as one of the best defenders in the conference. Also he help Rider defeat 21st rank Mississippi State by leading the team with 21 points and 14 rebounds and was rewarded MAAC player of the week. He currently holds the records for most games started at Rider University and most career wins.
He graduated in 2011 with a degree in Communications. Michael continue his basketball career playing professional in Iceland, England and Czech Republic. Ringgold average 18 points and 15 rebounds in Iceland. Before hanging up his shoes his final year in Czech he average 12 points and 7 rebounds in 18 minutes of action. In 2018 he was inducted into Roman Catholic Hall Of Fame. After basketball he followed in his coach/mentor footsteps of Philadelphia legend John Hardnett and started coaching youth basketball.
Had a great time helping out the Brotherly Love League Foundation this weekend with their Pro Am games and 4th annual Celebrity Basketball with a fantastic turnout. Looking forward to partnering with them more and doing more events for all the kids. Everyone enjoyed the experience at Alan Horwitz Sixth Man and networking with people during the event.
Here is my interview with Novar Gadson
Here is my interview with Michael Ringgold Basketball Operations
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