June 19, 2020
Good afternoon, fellow CSBL members! It’s been a few weeks since I’ve sent out a communication and wanted to touch base with everyone to bring you all up to speed on league-related matters.
First and foremost I wish to extend a happy Juneteeth to everyone in our league and particularly to our black members. This date, June 19, has never been on my calendar for any particular reason before, and that frankly is unfortunate. It’s on my calendar now, thanks in large part to the forward thinking people at Apple who loaded it into the calendars of iPhone users, and it will stay on my calendar. As the date approached I wondered how I would celebrate it in these days of limited physical interaction thanks to Covid. Then it occurred to me that thanks to the privilege I have of representing our league as Commissioner I have a voice. I try very hard to keep my emails and Hoopster content free of any political or religious messages or inferences, but there are times when religion or faith seep out, such as with the passing of a dear member.
This holiday, this event, this movement, this groundswell however transcends politics and religion. It’s about freedom, liberty and equality. It’s about basic human rights. It’s what this nation was founded on, or so they’ve taught us; even though it took us 90 years to get it right legally, another 100 years to get it right civilly, and perhaps now another 55 years to get it right morally. But yet there is still so much more work to do. This is not the America I wish to leave to my grandchildren – we can do so much better.
As we move forward together as a league and as a collection of men, please join me in doing our part to advance this great cause of racial injustice. What can we do? It’s a great question, and one with many answers – this is not a complete list, and some of this areas may be more comfortable for a person to get their arms around than another, but these are all worth our time, thought and consideration:
- Learn, understand and consider the extend and impact of privilege
- Define and recognize yours and other people’s biases
- Validate the experiences and feelings of people of color
- Challenge “colorblind”: when Dr. King spoke about his hopes of living in a “colorblind” world, a beautiful and much needed message, it may have had an unintended consequence. We cannot be blind to color if we are to understand systemic racism. Being blind to color ignores a significant aspect of a person’s identity, history and experience.
- Look for examples in your circle (work; friends; community) where there seems to be lack of opportunity for people of color. If you find one, talk about it, call it out.
- Support local businesses in your area. Seek out and support black and other minority owned businesses in your area. Every little bit helps and this can bring about much needed economic sustainability.
Regarding League news for the 2020/2021 Season:
We still do not have a definitive answer from the school district as to whether we have a gym for the upcoming season. We also do not yet know New York State’s position on group recreational activities with high levels of contact (such as basketball). Lastly, there is still no definitive word on when a mass-produced vaccine will be made available to the public.
We are holding a board meeting next Friday, June 26 to discuss this and other league related issues and I will follow that meeting up with another email to all members. We will also likely include a survey of sorts whereby we will ask each member to respond via email with your confidential answers on what level of interest you have in participating in an upcoming season, and what conditions would have to be met in order for you to play.
I have been in contact with the leadership of the Albany Patroons in the past couple weeks and I have extended an invitation to their head coach, Derrick Rowland, and the team’s owner, Tim Maggs, to join us at our board meeting. The Patroons have expressed an interest in our league and would like to explore some cross-promotional events. Our board is open to listening to them and we will have more to report back to you after that meeting.
I have one final bit of information to share. It’s been a long off-season for all of us, and it’s still June! Anticipating that there is a chance we might not be able to play hoop this coming September I have been thinking of alternative recreational options that might be of interest to a broad array of our members. I have spoken with Jim Sano, the President of the Italian American Community Center and will also be meeting with him early next week. The IACC has a long-standing Men’s Bocce league that runs through the summer at their facility on Washington Avenue Extension. Their numbers for this league have been dropping over the past few years and Jim is concerned about its sustainability. They are willing to let non-IACC members participate in the league and I’ve asked for some more information. The league would start on Monday, July 6 and through run through the summer on Monday evenings. There would be no charge for us CSBL members to join the league and we would be able to order food and beverages from their on-site restaurant. They would even talk with any CSBL member who was interested in joining their club.
Please email me if you are interested in signing up for this Bocce league. I plan on playing and I think it will be a lot of fun and provide many of the same things that our basketball league provides us: friendly competition, a social environment and food and beverages!
Thank you all for your support of our League and for your membership. Thank you, also for your time, patience, understanding and for listening to my message.
With best regards,
Andy Kramarchyk
CSBL Commissioner