Mystic Learning Center youth and Somerville policemen playing at the second annual community unity basketball game. — Photos by Mina Rose Morales

By Mina Rose Morales

Mystic housing project youth and Somerville policemen gathered on Wednesday, August 3, for the second annual community unity basketball game to honor the late basketball coach Stephenson Aman, known as Hollywood.

The game took place on the Mystic basketball courts across from the Somerville Housing Authority’s Mystic River Development – the projects. It began at 6:32 p.m. thirty-two minutes after the scheduled time.

The game participants were youth and adults who grew up in the Mystic housing projects and Somerville policemen. The basketball teams were mixed with youth and policemen. The event was organized by staff from the Mystic Learning Center and the Somerville Police Department.

The main coordinators of the event were Tracey Stearns the executive director of the Mystic Learning Center and Patrick Canty a Somerville policeman. Other organizers from the Mystic Learning Center include Jessica Ruggiero, a quality enhancement specialist; Kevin Roy the basketball coordinator; and Jacob Ojeda the assistant basketball coordinator. The other organizer from the Somerville Police Department is Paul Beckford.

The goal of the unity basketball games is for police officers to build relationships with the kids in a fun environment other than when they get called into the projects to take care of a situation or when a child is getting in trouble with the authorizes, according to Stearns.

“I just wanted the cops to get to know these kids…It was always drama bringing the cops in. I wanted to create a positive experience between cops and kids,” said Stearns.

Patrick Canty contacted Stearns after noticing the kids from the projects had a negative perception of the police officers. He got called to the projects to handle a situation. After, kids stopped to ask the policemen questions. Canty realized the kids had been exposed to cops in a bad way.

Stephenson Aman was known as Hollywood, the late Mystic Learning Center basketball coach. — Photo courtesy of Mystic Learning Center.

“I just wanted to do something to show them we are just people like they are,” said Canty.

Wednesday’s game was the second annual community unity basketball game. The first game was last year on October 6, 2021.

The teams wore either black or purple t-shirts made by the VilleSide Customs Company, a Somerville community business. Wings were printed on the back of the t-shirts along with the name Hollywood to remember the late basketball coach Stephenson Aman from the Mystic Learning Center’s Summer Basketball League. He committed suicide on May 22, 2022.

The Summer Basketball League has been playing for 18 seasons. They couldn’t play during the 16th season because of COVID-19.

The teams played two games during the event. The purple team won the first game 66 to 59. The black team won the second game 14 to 12.

Andrew Robinson, Kevin Roy, and Nehemiah Fields at the second annual community unity basketball game.

After the first game, Stearns thanked people for coming. She also reminded the crowd of the memory of their late basketball coach Hollywood. The most valuable player of the year was inducted into the Forever Hollywood Hall of Fame, named after their late basketball coach. Nehemiah Fields won this year. He will receive a plaque and trophy. The runner-up was Andrew Robinson who won a certificate.

“You can tell that the kids are welcomed here,” said Ciara Martinez, Field’s mother.

“The kids should be able to know whose protecting them. Maybe if they could have fun with them then maybe they could trust them,” said Kevin Roy, the Basketball Coordinator, referring to police when asked about Black Lives Matter.

The Somerville Police Department is not representative of other police departments across the country, according to Canty. Somerville Police have been trained in de-escalation for years and crisis intervention training for about five years. The Somerville police have also been working with mental health clinicians, according to Canty.

The next annual community unity basketball game has not been scheduled. The learning center is hoping it will be sometime in June 2023, according to Stearns.

The teams at the second annual community unity basketball game.