Number of Participants: 10
Hours Donated: 2
Value of Time Served: $169
Event Type: Children & Youth
Sport: Boys Basketball
School: Half Hollow Hills High School East
Date: January 10, 2020
Location:
50 Vanderbilt Pkwy
Dix Hills, NY 11746
USA
About:
My family has been working with the Challenger basketball league for 7 years.
The league was originally associated with Dix Hills Basketball to be an outlet for children with special needs to be able to learn and play basketball in a fun and safe environment. Dix Hills Basketball went out of business 2 years ago. So Gregg Willinger (a father of one of the players) and I now run the league. We got insurance, reserved gym space, and bought uniforms for every player. My son Reid also made a large donation to the league from his Bar Mitzvah presents to off set the costs of the league. The league is now free for every player.
The goal is to have children of all ages with special needs (players) to play basketball with high school students (buddies).
We do drills, have contests, and play games while integrating the players and buddies. It has been a mutually beneficial experience for the players and the buddies.
The league starts in November and runs though June. We play every Saturday (except vacation or poor weather) from 12:30-2:00. The high school buddy volunteers vary from week to week. My son Reid Pliskin has been working in the league for 7 years and has been the buddy coordinator and coach for the past 5 years. He has even run the league by himself on certain weeks when the main coaches (Gregg Willinger and myself) can’t make it. My older son Ryan Pliskin was the buddy coordinator the first two years that we participated and he still comes to assist when he is home for the weekend since he now lives in New Jersey and world for Madison Square Garden. My daughter Lyndsey Pliskin comes to assist in the league when she is not studying at Hofstra Northwell Medical School.
Two weeks ago my son Reid got his high school basketball team and coach to come down and volunteer with the challenger league. Reid is also the captain of the Half Hollow Hills East Boys Basketball team. It was a special day and everyone had a great experience. We have about 5 “regular” buddy volunteers that come every week and some other Buddy volunteers come on other occasions. The Main volunteers Besides my son Reid Pliskin are Joseph LeGuernic and Justin LeGuernic, Jason Stern, Max Rovner and Jake Rovner, and Max Schops. But we are always getting new volunteers and the high school Basketball team had such a good time that I anticipate that they will come back again.