Free Friday night basketball is back on at the Heron Community Centre.
Last Friday, the community centre gave participants a letter that said they were going to have to pay to play starting November 1st. The centre is located at 1480 Heron Road.
The fees were to be between $10 and $14 every two months. The centre also said participants needed to register on or before November 1st and show government-issued proof of age. The decision to start charging was to mitigate overcrowding and overage kids from showing up.
Abbas Mohammed has been going for years, but didn’t know if he could afford the cost. “The point of the program is to keep kids off the streets... So if I wasn’t in this program, I don’t know what I would have done.”
Liban Ali is another players who says, “It would be difficult (to pay) because sometimes my parents are not home, so I can’t get the money right away.”
Area councillor Jean Cloutier says he was brought aware of the changes over the weekend. After community backlash, Cloutier worked with city management to reverse the decision Monday afternoon.
He says it will still be for kids under 19, but no strict ID will be required, and the city will need to work together to make sure everyone is safe.
Cloutier says, “We need to have more programs for youths that are 19 years and older. This is a diverse community and a community that depends on the community center a lot.”
Abdi is another one player who has been going to the court for years. “I’ve been going here since I was 6 years old and it’s a pretty big place for me.”
Abbas Mohammed can’t wait to get back on the court. “The energy is electric because they have the tournament style, and it’s really something to see”
The drop in time is Friday nights from 7-9 pm.
