My City December 2022

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the continent. In time however, Coach Linnell was beginning to feel the draw of home getting stronger. “It got to the point overseas when I just knew it was time to go back and focus on helping the youth of Flint,” she explains. “When I grew up in Flint, the city invested in its youth,” Coach Linnell shares. “It was a dream city – we had ongoing afterschool programs, open parks and more.The community school directors would give us a chance to be at the gym until 9 or 10 pm. We could walk every street and develop our skills at no cost to us. Now, we are seeing the effects of that lack of investment,” she continues. “We barely have sports or art programs in schools and with a lack of after-school programs, children don’t have the opportunities we had. In fact, nearly 70 percent of kids in the city go to schools outside of their district or to charter schools.” Upon her return to the city from overseas, Coach Linnell took a step toward resolving these problems and started her “School of Champions” pro gram and after working with youth and other programs for nearly forty years, she was drawn to Sylvester Broome. “When Sylvester Broome Empower ment Village (SBEV) was just starting in 2017, I inquired about using the facility,” she explains. “SBEV Executive Director Maryum Rasool called me up and I told her my dream of helping youth in the city build and follow their own dreams.”The two quickly joined forces and “School of Champions” merged with the vision of SBEV. Now,

SBEV provides a space for youth to learn and enhance their academic prowess, practice the arts and excel in athletics. Everything Coach Linnell dreamed of being able to provide … except for one thing. “Eventually, the need and idea to build a sports com plex came up between me and Ms. Rasool. We have been working very hard to get there and have had some setbacks, but we should be ready to break ground next spring.” The plans for the Flint Sports Complex include three basketball courts, space for gymnastics classes, robotics, soccer, baseball and more. “We want our kids to have the opportunity to play in tournaments, to learn and to train so that their dreams can be realized,” Coach Linnell states. “We want them to see that life can be better! That’s what we do at SBEV. We introduce them to robotics, sports, music and art, so that they can dream of becoming a nurse, doctor, engineer or athlete. We want to show them what success looks like, so they can see themselves in that role. Our kids see negativity every day and they internalize it. We look to give them a positive image of themselves and of life. If we plan for our dreams, we can be successful.” The SBEV model has been turning heads around the country and the organization is in the process of opening another facility in Chicago to help the youth there.They are even looking to expand to other cities in the future.

IN MAY, JONES-MCKENNEY TOOK THE COURT FOR TEAM USA AT THE SENIOR OLYMPICS IN FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, BRINGING HOME GOLD.

Linnell simply had to take. “My agent called and told me that the Europe an Basketball League was offering 15 Americans the chance to play overseas. I signed up and was chosen.” She played in Rome professionally, traveled the world and became a star and league MVP. Two big dreams had been realized: traveling the world and playing pro basketball. While in Europe, she checked an other off the list when she was asked to work and speak with youth during numerous basketball clinics across

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