Heaven’s Hoop Dream – by Tara Bracco
An 11-year old girl from Brooklyn dreams of being the first woman in the NBA.
I love basketball. It’s a sport that my dad played and also I love the movement of basketball. And the first time I saw him play, it was like magic to me.
You can be your own person and share your emotions on the court. When I win a game I feel really excited and also when we shake hands I don’t want to look too excited to hurt the other team’s feelings so I just say good game.
New Heights is a team and also a school. Coach Chez is our coach for the school. Of course without class there’s no basketball. Because class is the first thing you have to get done.
I love the best about New Heights is that you get to communicate and play with other people that you’ve never played with before. Because once the team starts you meet new people.
I would love to play in the WNBA because I want to make the world a better place. And women’s rights are not too good – from the past and now. They pay less in WNBA, but I’m planning to make it pay more and people are going to come to most of my games.
If I get in the NBA or the WNBA – because I want to go to the WNBA first and then the NBA to show people, the first girl or woman to go in the NBA – I want to show people that anyone can do anything and follow your dreams. Anything can happen.
Heaven’s Hoop Dream by Tara Bracco
A young girl takes her basketball dream to New Heights
On Saturday mornings, 11-year old Heaven Figueroa travels from her home in Sunset Park, Brooklyn to play basketball on the Upper West Side. But she doesn’t play in an outdoor court or in a school. She plays basketball at the Jewish Community Center as part of New Heights’s weekly program for kids who love basketball and want to use their basketball skills to get into college.
“In New York City, basketball is the sport of choice for youths,” said Ted Smith, executive director of the nonprofit organization. “Kids grow up playing basketball so it’s a great way to engage them in our program.”
At New Heights, middle school and high school boys and girls attend weekly sessions to develop their athletic, academic and leadership skills. The organization serves approximately 200 students a year, a majority of whom go on to college. Since 2005, according to Smith, 100% of the students in the program graduated from high school and 98% got into college.
“They graduate from our program more academically prepared and more socially prepared for college and life beyond,” Smith said.
Like her peers, Figueroa hopes the New Heights program will lead to a scholarship. But that’s not her only goal. She dreams of becoming the first woman in the NBA, and she wants to make the sport more equal for women.
“There are enough women who want to play, but in the WNBA you have to finish college and it’s not fair because in the NBA you just have to finish high school,” the young Figueroa said. “They pay less in the WNBA, but I’m planning to make it pay more and people are going to come to most of my games.”