LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There’s something going on inside the Old Male Gym.
It's a basketball league made up of players from all over the region, some of whom are barely out of high school while have full-time jobs and families.
“We take guys from all around the region, different zip codes, and we draft them,” league director Brandon Hill said. “You've got guys from Newburg, west end, east end and everything else.”
It all started with Hill and his former Kentucky State University teammate, Isaiah Britt.
“Sports has been a catalyst for me to get through college,” Britt said. “It was like an accountability measure for me. It was something I used to hold myself accountable throughout school and now throughout life. The vision was for me to demonstrate that to the community and show more people how we can use sports. It was always pretty crystal clear to me to.”
The idea grew into their nonprofit organization called the R.U.N. League, which stands for Reviving Urban Neighborhoods. The two men serve as the league’s co-directors. There are eight teams that play July through August.
"We've got literally the best of the best,” league coach Ken Brown said. “If you're a basketball player from Louisville, you're going to get all you can handle in the R.U.N. League."
More important than the competition are the resources the league brings to the games, which include job programs, college recruiters, mental health representatives and financial advisers.
“People can know, 'Hey, I don't have enough money to be a homeowner,'” Hill said. “It’s like, yes you do. ‘I don't have this. I can't get a job with this.’ Like, yes you can, and here's the people that can help you."
“People need outlets,” Britt added. “People need resources and role models. For me, growing up, I was able to find that through sports. I was able to find a good coach, somebody to push me, hold me accountable. We just recognized it as a need, something that needed to be spotlighted — how people can use sports and other things that they're passionate about to open up other doors for them.”
It was the R.U.N. League that opened up the biggest door for Western High School graduate Joshua Shannon.
“Three weeks before school started with no offers, it's kind of hard to find somewhere quick,” Shannon said. "Brandon called me. I was trying to play at a school closer to home. That didn't work out. Three weeks before school started, I really didn't have an offer or anywhere to go.”
Then, with help from Hill, Shannon received a scholarship offer from Trinity College in Chicago, where he’ll be a junior this season.
“I don’t think there's too many people helping other people get somewhere,” Shannon said. “So for them to do that for me, that's big. It should be an inspiration for everyone else to join the league, because there's hope you can get to a college. It's not over yet.”
"One of the biggest things that we pride ourselves on is that the league has become a brotherhood,” Hill added. “You have a lot of guys from different neighborhoods and different cliques that didn't hang out with each other. They probably have seen each other around, but now they're like brothers."
Since its creation in 2017, the league continues to grow with a current wait list of more than 100 men.
“We definitely have the people's attention,” Britt said. “They're talking about it. They're all over it. It's a community environment. They're there. That's why we think it's really important to bring out the resources to them so that people can start taking advantage of it and improving other aspects of their life."
"We're trying to change the narrative of black young men in Louisville,” Brown added. “Get away from the look and the necessity to say that we're all violent and reaching out and looking for violence. Really, we're all looking for the same type of opportunities and a fair shake."
The R.U.N. League is still looking for partners. Hill and Britt can be reached at:
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