Cop teams with friend, NBA on youth league

August 9, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Shakir Perkins already does a lot for his community and country, but he still has more to give.

The Youngstown police officer has teamed up with Rayen classmate Abdur Jordan to start the Mahoning Valley Youth Basketball Association, an NBA-sanctioned junior league. The league has five divisions sorted out by age: 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12 and 13-14.

The idea is to provide grass-roots, beginner-level basketball to local kids, something Perkins said has been lacking in Youngstown.

“As far as I know, there hasn’t been one in this area, period,” Perkins said. “I’ve been talking about it with different people who have been working on it. It just seemed like the right thing to do for this area since both my partner and I are from this area.”

Perkins has been with the YPD since 2007. He serves as a community officer in the city’s third ward. Community officers act as liaisons between the police department and the community. They attend block meetings, host events and work alongside a ward’s councilperson.

Perkins previously worked as an EMT and served in the U.S. Army Reserves, receiving a purple heart while serving in Iraq. In 2004, Perkins was a machine gunner on a Humvee when his vehicle was hit by an IED. Perkins took shrapnel to his back and left arm. He had the option to go home, but instead chose to stay overseas and rehab his injuries.

“I wanted to finish my tour with my guys,” Perkins said.

Perkins suffered nerve damage to his left hand, but otherwise made a full recovery.

“It just feels like it’s asleep all the time,” Perkins said.

The MVYBA will have a summer camp on Aug. 21 at Valley Christian and league play starts Oct. 30 and runs through Dec. 4.

“Basically it’s done through the NBA. It’s an NBA-official league. Everything is done through them,” Perkins said. “We get official game jerseys and they support with different things, like the skill camps, that we’d like to be doing.

“Eventually, they’ll bring some NBA players to the area and our camps,” Perkins added.

Registration for the camp and league are open on the league’s website, www.mvyba.com.

There will also be an opportunity to register in-person at the Dick’s Sporting Goods located off Route 224 in Boardman.

“It’s just nice to bring something to the community that brings everybody together,” Perkins said.