When Garry Mills lost a friend to gun violence, he realized it was time to do something to help the youth in his community. He responded by forming a nonprofit youth recreation organization called Shoot Basketballs Not People (SBNP).

  SBNP uses basketball as a way decrease violence by teaching teamwork, goal setting and planning to kids and teenagers from ages 8-17, Mills told Spirit News. To date, SBNP has mentored 397 children from North Philadelphia.

  Mills explained that coaching sports to children can help break cycles of destructive behavior and violence by teaching them core values that can be applied not only to basketball, but in other aspects of their lives as well.

  “Sports helps young people learn what it means to be part of a team and allows them to learn how to lose gracefully, which means assessing their own performance,” Mills added.

  Mills believes that coaches should not not focus on their teams winning or losing, but instead focus on the development of life skills in the players. Working with children has taught him that a coach needs to be a parental figure because many students he encounters are raised in single-parent households.

  When the kids learn to evaluate why they lost, they also see what they did well. This helps the youths learn from their mistakes and not get caught up in the process of losing, Mills said.

  Mills grew up in West Oak Lane and was raised by parents who valued hard work and creativity. While attending Lincoln High School, his basketball coach shaped his outlook on life and basketball by promoting values of hard work and brotherhood on and off the court.

  Mills brings these values into his life and the lives of his students in SBNP. “There’s a lot that goes into working with these children to make them excel,” Mills said.

  Mills formed SBNP after he stopped working within the corporate world at Wells Fargo, which he found unfulfilling.

  “As I lost friends to gun violence, it left a nasty taste in my mouth,” Mills said. “While working at Wells Fargo, I realized I didn’t want to do something that wasn’t fulfilling.”

  Since the first SBNP basketball game against violence in 2009, the nonprofit has added more accomplishments under its belt, including expanding to Akron, Ohio.

   It’s first event in Akron was the annual President’s Day Youth Basketball Clinic on February 18, 2013. Ever since then, they have been hosting the annual event every year.

  Closer to home, SBNP frequently holds clinics and events to spread their message. On August 15, 2016, the organization held the Allen Iverson Celebrity Basketball Classic at the Liacouras Center, which featured Allen Iverson and other famous Philadelphia basketball figures including North Philly’s own Rasheed Wallace.

  Students in SBNP experience more than just playing basketball. Mills and the group have competed at the War at Valley Forge tournament, which attracted 82 teams from across the east coast in April 2015.

  SBNP has earned awards and recognition for their work. Most recently, in 2016, Mills was selected as the 2016 Black Enterprise Magazine Top 100 BE Modern Men.  In June, the organization was awarded the 2016 Top Rated Great Nonprofit badge.

  SBNP is working on new projects. The group has partnered with Pro Bound, another basketball training organization, to focus more on teaching basketball to young women. Their mission is to inspire girls to compete at the next level in the game.

  On April 8th, SBNP will participate in the Academic High School Basketball Invitational at the University of the Sciences. The purpose of this event is to feature 80 top student-athletes from Philadelphia and suburban county schools.

  The event will continue to foster SBNP’s message and encourage the importance of exhibiting character in-game and in life while maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

  As far as what is planned for the future, Mills said that they are working towards building their own facility to develop athletes and help them gain entrepreneurial skills in addition to basketball skills. Mills anticipates the program achieving national recognition in the near future. This will hopefully allow for further development of their programs.

  But whatever the future holds for SBNP, Mills’ advice to his students is this:

  “Never take constructive criticism from someone who’s never constructed anything.” •