Cairns juvenile crime: Cairns Basketball and police team up to keep kids off the street

A once popular program to keep kids off the street through sport has resumed after over ten years and so far it is a winner.

A ONCE popular initiative to keep kids off the street through sport has resumed after more than a decade and is already proving to be a winner.

Friday kicked off the first session of midnight basketball, a revived version of a program from 2007, but this time Cairns Basketball and police have joined forces.

It allows kids to come together and play basketball with some players such as Nate Jawai every Friday night from about 7.30pm till midnight.

Cairns Police Detective senior sergeant Mick Gooiker said kids enjoyed it on Friday.

Memphis Walker and Pranton Mabo going for the jump ball with Cairns Taipans player Nate Jawai at the first midnight basketball night. Picture: Jasmine Amis

“The whole idea is giving these kids a healthy safe and active environment to spend their Friday nights so they won’t get in trouble and have positive role models.”

“They get to play with people coming from their own communities, that’s what it’s about. We’ve got to give these kids something to look up to.”

Cairns Marlins coach Kerry Williams is one of those role models who plays with the kids and said it brought him back to his childhood when they did the program in 2007.

“When it was first running, we were the kids on the court running and playing, there were five or six teams on the sidelines waiting to get on the court.

“There was something to do with the weekend we were able to run around instead of getting into mischief.”

Cairns Police Detective senior sergeant Mick Gooiker and Cairns Basketball president Mark Beecroft at the first midnight basketball night. Picture: Jasmine Amis

Mr Williams said now that he was able to be a mentor he could get to know the kids a bit more.

Cairns Basketball president Mark Beecroft said it didn’t matter if kids weren’t interested in sport, but it was great for them to build relationships.

“There will be kids that don’t know each other but they will be engaged and be playing on the team with a total stranger,” he said.

Mulgrave MP Curtis Pitt has been an advocate for this program and said basketball was a great opportunity for kids as it’s a simple sport.

“It’s that sense of belonging, people do good things because they want to belong, they also do bad things but we want to give them more good opportunities,” he said.

“I want this to go well for all these kids, I want to see success of this so we can expand it to the southern corridor of Cairns. I have no doubt we can make success to it.”

Originally published as Cairns juvenile crime: Cairns Basketball and police team up to keep kids off the street