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By TRACIE WHITE /
Special
to the Mercury News
ever
since he was six, Jovon Clayton has spent his afterschool hours
at the Levin Clubhouse in South San Jose, playing sports.
Every day, from the time school lets out until 6:30 or 7 p.m.,
when his mom picks him up after work, he plays sports, any sports,
whatever is offered -- basketball, flag football, baseball, kickball,
tennis, soccer. Sometimes it's dodge ball, occasionally volleyball,
Steal the Bacon, Spud. Anything. Sports have kept him out of trouble,
kept him off the streets and made him intensely loyal to his club,
one of several operated by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley.
"If you've had a long day at school, you can come over here and
get out all your energy by sports,'' explains Jovon.
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Jovon proudly sports #1 on his Southside jersey.
(Anne-Marie
McReynolds / Mercury News)
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Now at 13, Jovon usually is a team captain -- which means he gets
to wear the only pair of uniform shorts the club has available to
the 100 or so kids who daily pass through the doors. Jovon wishes
there were enough uniforms for all his teammates. '
"Right now, it's first-come, first-serve, and it's just not fair,''
says Jovon. The club, which serves kids from mostly low-income families,
has used the same set of green and white jerseys for the past five
years. Only a dozen are left.
"A lot of kids feel bad 'cause they have to play in their street
clothes,'' says Jovon. Team pride is important to these kids, and
uniforms help, says Daniela Cortez, another long-time club member
and athlete who is now part of the Levin Clubhouse staff.
"The uniforms are good for team motivation, team spirit,'' she
says. "It'd be great to go out on the court and represent your club
with nice new uniforms.''
It costs $10 to join the Boys & Girls Club, which organizes traveling
sports teams for many kids whose parents can't afford to pay for
more expensive competitive leagues or take time away from work to
drive them to practices and games. At the club, there are no tryouts.
Everyone makes the teams.
"These kids are dedicated,'' says Fred McCasland, who runs the
club. "They put that uniform on and they walk out there proud. Really
proud.''
Jovon's mother, Susan Clayton, recognizes that sense of pride in
her son -- pride in his club, pride in his teams, pride in himself.
"Without the Boys & Girls Club, Jovon would probably be hanging
out with the wrong crowd,'' says Clayton. "I don't know what I would
have done without it.''
New, multi-purpose uniforms -- which are re-used from year to year
-- cost $40 per youth.
For
more information on the Boys
& Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley, go to
www.bgclub.org.
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