Basketball at Midnight

Beginning of article

Midnight Basketball is giving thousands of young males in poor neighbourhoods of U.S. cities an opportunity to play the game and keep out of trouble

Anthony Carter, a 22-year-old African-American, is a star player in the University of Hawaii Basketball team. He has already had lucrative offers from prestigious clubs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) league.

Not long ago, Carter was one of many poor young males looking for opportunities in Atlanta's Jonesboro south suburb, known for its high crime rate. His life took a different turn after he joined the local "Midnight Basketball" (MBL) league where he spent three years. As a result, he is now in university and looking ahead to a bright future in the NBA league. MBL, which organizes basketball played between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m, has changed the lives of many young males like Carter who live in the poor neighbourhoods of Atlanta and might otherwise have drifted into crime. (See box.)

The only difference between Midnight Basketball and normal basketball is that it is played at hours when young inner city males are most vulnerable to the drug culture, crime and other negative activity. In a nutshell, MBL takes the players off the …