City Of Phoenix: Point Guard Points To Phoenix Police Activities League For Opportunity To Play College Basketball

Phoenix AZ

07 August, 2021

4:48 PM

Description

Press release from the City of Phoenix: August 7, 2021 9:00 AM Kamari Webb is an incoming freshman at SAGU American Indian College, with a spot on the college's basketball team. It is an opportunity, he says, he wouldn't have if it weren't for PAL—the Phoenix Police Activities League. "PAL was like my last breath of hope almost," Webb explained. "Coming out of Tolleson, we got a completely new coach my senior year, so I had no offers, and I felt I was definitely good enough to go play at the next level. But I just didn't have the opportunity or the exposure. So going to PAL...not only did they expand my game, but they just built me as a person." PAL is a Phoenix Police initiative created to address the needs of at-risk youth, and build relationships between those youth and the police, in a non-enforcement setting. The PAL Elite team, that Webb was a part of, is PAL's club basketball program—something that usually costs kids thousands of dollars, but is free thanks to Phoenix Police Foundation funding."It's beyond what I imagined when we started the program three years ago," Officer Carl Wunsch said. "It was just gonna be a team, and we were just going to go into tournaments, not recognizing the community's desire to have this." Officer Wunsch oversees PAL, and in his three years here, he's seen 18 of his athletes get the chance to participate in college sports. And, in just the past year, he's seen 11 guys get athletic scholarship offers. But Officer Wunsch says the benefits of PAL don't stop there. "There is a widening gap between police, and community, and understanding each other, and what each other's about," Officer Wunsch said. "I think that this is a key piece to creating that bridge. Just the number of people I come into contact with that don't like the police. Now they're like well maybe the police are ok."College starts this month for former PAL Elite player Webb, but he's already been practicing with his future teammates at SAGU. This point guard points to PAL not only for his spot to play at the college level, but also for his readiness to play, and he'd recommend this league for any other youth considering it. "Especially with the way that it worked for me, I know that it could work like that for any other kid in The Valley that feels like they've been almost misunderstood or overlooked," Webb explained. "They could definitely come to PAL and look for an opportunity there, and I'm pretty sure they would have one." Related Social Media Hashtags and Handles: PhoenixPolice PhoenixPoliceFoundation PoliceActivitiesLeague Keywords: Phoenix Police, Phoenix Police Foundation, Police Activities League This press release was produced by City of Phoenix. The views expressed here are the author's own.