Pastor Paul Riley wants to help local teens on the courts instead of in the courts.
That's the slogan behind Windsor's new Youth Embracing Today's Youth Centre at Water World.
With the YMCA moving out of the core, Riley says the YETY centre will provide free programs for youth in a safe, supervised place.
"Sports, activities, obviously basketball, volleyball -- the main sports people talk about," Riley says, who is also the executive director of the centre. "But there is a sport we want to tap into -- cricket. I want to do some other sports from cultures that other places don't offer."
Pastor Paul Riley. (Photo by Jason Viau)
Teens may learn some things they can bring home to mom during the centre's cooking classes because "teenagers today do not know how to cook."
Mentorship is also a key area Riley wants to focus on to help keep these kids off the streets.
"The problem is teenagers don't have motivation because there are so many negative things going on, but they need somebody positive to come in and say 'hey, if you stay in school, you can do this,'" says Riley.
He ran a similar youth program in Amherstburg that saw about 100 kids come out each day.
Riley remembers a group of "tough boys" who came out with saggy pants. Once they came with their drawers fully fastened and a nice shirt, Riley says he taught them how to play travel basketball.
"One of them today stuck around, followed us even when we moved to Windsor here and is one of the trustees in our church today," Riley says.
Although the centre targets teens, it will also host a children's basketball program for students in Grade 3 to Grade 5 for $25. It runs two hours a day for two weeks.
Programs kickoff Monday and run weekly from 1pm - 6pm. Right now only summer activities are planned, but Riley hopes to keep it running throughout the year.
The city is charging a small fee for the centre to use the space. Riley says he'd love to remain at Water World. But if the city decides to do something different with the space, he says draft plans are already in place to build a new youth centre two blocks away.
A GoFundMe account has been setup to help with costs of the new YETY centre.