White Shadow55 Outreach

The Harlem Superstars comedy basketball team is set to return to the Bath Middle School on Thursday, March 10th at 6:30pm.  We have a lot of exciting surprises for the community at this year’s game!  Last year was a sell out and we unfortunately had to turn away a lot of people at the door so make sure you get your tickets early this year!  The Harlem Superstars put on an amazing display of basketball showmanship, with slam dunks, trick shots, unique comedy, basketball tricks, dancing and crowd interaction that you will not want to miss.  The Superstars will provide an extremely entertaining family show that fans of all ages will enjoy.  We are keeping the ticket prices very low this year so that everyone can enjoy the show.  At $7.00 per ticket (presale) and only $8.00 at the door, I have personally made sure that the ticket prices are affordable for most anyone in the community to have the opportunity to see our show.   

Our game will feature the 7’2 Ricky Lopes, (featured on David Letterman, Conan O’brien and Law and Order) one of the most gifted natural comedians on the planet, Chris ”Super Chicken” Turnquist, and Kevin “Showboat” Jackson.  We are also featuring a star studded ’Bath Dream Team’ led by, 2010 gold medalist from the USA karate team, Ed “The Hitman” Hall, (full roster to be announced soon).  The Harlem Superstars’ show is a family show that does so much more than just entertain.  They visit all of the area school, the day of the game to reach each student with a positive message. During the game they invite every kid in attendance come onto the court and dance with the team, and they do not leave the gym until every single fan has a chance to get an autograph, picture, or a high five.  All proceeds from this game will go to benefit ‘Teens of America’ an organization that is helping young people all over the country in a very unique way, addressing issues that our young people struggle with on a daily basis.  Teens of America works with young people to form peer groups and make pledges to avoid negative influences.  They talk to young people about what is possible if they work hard to achieve their dreams and goals in life.  They educate young people about issues like bullying/cyber bullying, peer pressure, teen suicide, texting and driving, safe social networking etc.  I will be working with Teens of America to bring their programs and extensive follow up programs to Maine schools, I couldn’t be any more excited than I am to come onboard their team.  This game will be a launch pad of sorts to provide T.O.A. with the resources to be able to bring this amazing, cutting edge program to Maine.    We will be reaching out to members of our community over the next few weeks to support our efforts to make this charity basketball game a huge success!

  I’ll see you at the game! ~Jason “White Shadow” Gibbons

Teens of America: http://teensofamerica.net/

Presale Tickets available: At the Bath Middle School: $7.00 

At the door: $8.00

Our event was a huge success!  Thank you to all of the sponsors who made it possible!  International Slam Dunk phenom Kenny Dobbbs stole the show. Pictured here jumping over a spectator’s head, taking the ball out of his hands and putting it between his legs.  Master Ed Hall and his demonstration team, “Team Extreme” performed, the Harlem Superstars’ Ricky “7-footer” Lopes, myself, and former Harlem Globetrotter Dajuan “Piece” Eubanks also performed before a crowd of over 200 spectators on this cloudy September afternoon. I spoke briefly about the new face of bullying, cyber-bullying.  I talked about the fact that now a days, young people are being harassed, intimidated and bullied 24/7 in cyber space like never before.  With the explosion of social networking, even elementary school children students have facebook profiles and many share the most intimate details of their life for the world to see.  A recent ABC News study claims that only 15% of parents are “in the know” about their children’s social networking habits.  I challenged parents to take the steps necessary to monitor their children’s on line activities.  So many young people are so much more technically advanced than their parents, that they are able to do almost anything that they want to without any consequences.  I challenged young people to take action if they are being bullied or if they know some one’s who is being bullied.  Tell a trusted adult, and keep telling trusted adults until action is taken.  [Read the rest of this entry...]

On August 2nd We help a camp for children and adults with developmental disabilities at the Bath Middle School.

 This was the very first camp that I’ve held for folks with special needs and it couldn’t have possible gone any better!  I’ve found over the years that the game of basketball can be an amazingly powerful vehicle to help those who live with developmental challenges to overcome many of the obstacles that they often struggle with. Communication, working together as a team to accomplish a goal, following the instructions of a coach or captain, sportsmanship, learning to win and lose gracefully, respect etc. The game instills a sense of self confidence and can boost the self esteem of anyone who is willing to work at it!
My hope is to do more camps like this in the future.  I’ll be reaching out to schools and agencies around the state this year, to work more with their young people and adults with special needs.  I hope to be able to show people just how therapeutic the game of basketball can be!  There are so many things that the game can teach us all about life!  The game has a way of rewarding hard work and punishing you if you don’t put in the work you should.

I thank God that over the past 11 years I’ve been blessed to be in a position to see this game touch the lives of some of God’s most precious creatures and I look forward to working with our friends with special needs in the future through this great game of basketball!

Click on this link for Times Record story about our camp,

 ”A Dream That You ‘Swish’ May Come True” Special Needs Camp Story

 

The Harlem Superstars game at the Bath Middle School was a huge success.  Some have said that the Bath Middle School has never held more people than it did on March 25th 2k10!  The game was scheduled to start at 6:30pm and by that time the gym was absolutely jam packed, kids sitting on the floor, standing room in the lobby and there was still a line out to the parking lot!  We had to turn a ton of people away unfortunately.  It was a fundraiser for my new charity, “White Shadow Outreach.”  It was alot of work but it was worth every single minute.  I was able to make a donation of half of my proceeds to a great local charity, The Odyssey of the Mind.  From the honor guard to Ed Hall’s Martial Arts Demonstration Team to the Woolwich Wildcat cheerleaders and the fun personalities on The Dream Team, it could not have gone any better! Looking forward to next year’s game.

I couldn’t be more excited about working with the brand new NBA developmental team, “The Maine Red Claws” as the team’s MC. The Red Claws are the D-league team  for the Boston Celtics and the Charlotte Bobcats. During our inaugural season we sold out every single game in our 3,200 seat expo arena and have become a model of success for other Nba Developmental league teams. It’s such an honor to be a part of history as Nba basketball has taken the state of Maine by storm!  It’s a perfect fit for me and a dream come true to have the opportunity to work with the NBA.  I’ll be the on court MC/entertainer for all of the Red Claws upcoming home games.  

Don’t miss out on this unique camp!!!

Special Needs Camp:

All ages!!!

Where: Bath Middle School

When: August 22nd through the 26th from 12:30pm to 3:30pm

Cost: $100.00

Please visit the contact page and leave the campers name age and tee shirt size to reserve a spot at this summer’s camp.  Walk ins welcome: Registration will be held at BMS from 12pm to 12:30pm on August 22nd.

To print out a registration form for the August 22nd special needs “Superstar” Camp click here:  2011 Special Needs Registration form

Anyone interested in sponsoring a camper please let me know.

More info on this year’s camp:

I’m extremely excited about the opportunity to hold my 2nd “Special Needs” camp for young people and adults with developmental disabilities.  Last year’s camp was a huge success and I’m really looking forward to this year’s camp on August 22nd at Bath Middle School.  One of my biggest goals is to help give them a sense of pride in themselves and help build their self confidence, because far too often these are folks who struggle with the simple day to day things that so many of us take for granted.  Having worked with young people with disabilities for 12 years I’ve been in a position to see far too many people who happen to have a disability, walk around with very low self esteem and it’s my goal during this particular camp, to build that up.  I work with my campers on things like goal setting, working together as a team to achieve personal and team goals.  We try to focus on things that they may struggle with through basketball, like boundaries (playing within the lines) or how that you need to take direction from your coach at times, to be the best teammate you can possibly be.  How to learn to deal with failure and defeat gracefully, support your teammates and how that if you are willing to work hard, you can become the best that you can possibly be.  There are so many things that the game of basketball can help this segment of our community with for sure.  There is nothing any more rewarding than seeing the pride in a camper’s eyes when that light goes on and they grasp a concept that will not only help them on the court but also help them in the game of life!

I’m excited to unveil some drills that I picked up from a friend of mine named Frank Lopes.  He was recently at the white house court with the president and is the nba’s top camp director. He does alot of jr nba camps all over the country.  I met him at All Star weekend, he flew me out to perform at his school in Florida and I’ve also helped him with the Red Claws basketball camps.  He has given me some great drills to make camp fun and help improve the game of my campers.  Every day will have a theme, respect, hard work, healthy living, education etc.  We will have special guests that will come and speak about out themes, such as 2011 USA Karate Team’s Olympic gold medalist and member of the Martial Arts Hall of Fame, Ed Hall.  The goal of my camp are to give individuals the tools to help them become better basketball players but also to show them things that the game can teach them about life as well.  Things like self discipline, perseverance, dedication, and good sportsmanship are all focal points of my camps.  The game of basketball will reward positive character traits like hard work and punish those who are lazy or try to take shortcuts and have poor character.

I always tell my campers something that the best basketball trickster I’ve ever seen, Tommy Baker, once told me at the NBA’s All Star Weekend, “Hard work beat talent, when talent fails to work hard.”  There are alot of talented people out there but unless they have the fire in the belly to put buckets of sweat and hard work together with that talent, they will not make it as far as the individual with no talent who is willing to out work everyone else!  I feel very blessed to be in a position to be able to share the game I love with others and show them how you much the game can teach you if you are willing to look a little deeper!

The salt in his shoes~the Michael Jordan story

Earlier this week I had opportunity to read “The Salt in his Shoes”~ the Michael Jordan story, to the 3rd grade boys at Phippsburg elementary school the other day.  Jordan’s story can be a very powerful tool to talk to kids about the values of hard work, perseverance and never giving up on your dreams and goals.  After reading the book, I shared some things with the boys that have helped me and they were very receptive.  We had a great time and I look forward to coming back next month to visit with the 4th graders.

Come  out  and  join myself, DJ Creamer and Martial Arts legend, Master Ed Hall, for an afternoon of fun games and contests for kids of all ages! We are celebrating Bath’s Citizen Involvement Day as we get the kids in the community together to collect non perishable donations for the Bath soup kitchen.  [Read the rest of this entry...]

We had a great turnout at this year’s Jason Christ Court!  We had pizza, ice cream, games for all the kids, lots of give aways including ‘White Shadow’ tee shirts, dvds, pictures and basketballs. 

 More importantly, I was able to talk to the kids about the dangers of bullying and peer pressure, as well as the rewards of caring for others and befriending those in need, through the powerful story of the young man to whom the Maritime basketball courts were dedicated three years ago.

 Jason was widely known for his concern for others and often called “a superman for the underdogs” in his school and community.  I was fortunate enough to work with Jason for 4 years and I’m just trying to keep his memory alive by recognizing  members of the community and students from area schools, selected for the embodiment of Jason’s ideals.  We were able to raise money for the “Help a Kid Foundation” which funds after school activities for children in the community, through a silent auction and raffle.  William Shuttleworth spoke from the heart to the kids and let us know a little bit about his foundation which is currently supporting over 250 children in the area. 

  

 

Below is a short video from our event

We had a great camp last week!  Here’s a few pictures. One of our daily themes was “giving back” so everyone turned in an idea for our camp to give back in our community in some way. We decided that instead of choosing one of the ideas, that I read the next day, we’d use all of them [Read the rest of this entry...]