Youth Represent Toronto at NYC Tournament
A group of Toronto teens travelled to New York City to compete in a basketball tournament honouring fallen police officers.
Constable Austin Knights, a youth and family crime investigator at 14 Division, accompanied players from the Toronto Community Housing Midnight Basketball League to the fifth annual Detective Jason Rivera and Detective Wilbert Mora Memorial Basketball Classic, presented by the New York City Detectives’ Endowment Association.
“I wanted them to see the person behind the uniform and badge,” said Knights, who has helped organize youth basketball tournaments in Toronto as a way of mentoring young people. “When you spend five days together, you get to know each other differently. I hope they came away knowing that police officers are people who genuinely care about them and want to see them succeed.”
The three-day tournament honours the two New York Police Department officers who were killed in the line of duty while responding to an intimate partner violence call on January 21, 2022.
The trip also provided an opportunity to honour a fallen Toronto officer. Before each game, the team wore warm-up shirts bearing the name of Emergency Task Force officer Marc Pinizzotto, who was killed in the line of duty last June.
“I wanted the boys to carry the memory of Marc Pinizzotto with them and remind them that they were representing something bigger than basketball,” Knights said.
Inspector Joseph Matys said having a Toronto Police Service member carry Pinizzotto’s legacy into an international event honouring officers who made the ultimate sacrifice, while also supporting young people, was profoundly meaningful.
“It reflects the values of the TPS and serves as a powerful reminder of the good work that police officers do in the community every day,” he said.
Before travelling to New York, they participated in nine practices at Toronto Metropolitan University. During one session, Parkdale’s own Koby McEwen, a prominent professional basketball player, spent 30 minutes speaking to them about his journey and the hard work required to reach the professional level.
In New York, the players participated in skills sessions, drills and exhibition games before competing in the main tournament at Basketball City in Manhattan. They advanced to the semifinals, where they lost by only a few points. The following day, they again reached the semifinals during the international games at Lehman College in the Bronx.
Between games, the group visited the Statue of Liberty, SoHo and Times Square.
The trip’s greatest success, however, occurred away from the basketball court.
The 14 players came from different Toronto Community Housing neighbourhoods and, before the trip, many would not have considered spending time together. Sharing a bus, competing as teammates and exploring New York together helped break down those barriers.
“They realized they had much more in common than they thought,” Knights said. “They came from different neighbourhoods, but basketball gave them a reason to come together, support one another and build friendships.”
The experience also allowed Knights to develop a different relationship with the young players and speak with them about their goals and plans for the future.
“I grew up in Orton Park in Scarborough, and I had a lot of friends who went down the wrong path,” he said. “Kids need positive role models to show them the opportunities available to them. Basketball is a way to relate to these kids. It teaches discipline and teamwork, and it gives them opportunities to connect with people and have experiences they might not otherwise have.”
