Detroit violence intervention groups ran a flag football championship Friday, and the sport was not really the point.
The championship games took place at the Chandler Park Fieldhouse Dome, capping a season organized this spring by Team Pursuit and FORCE Detroit, two of the city's community intervention organizations. No entry fees. Equipment provided, cleats included. The program was built to remove every financial barrier that keeps a kid on the sideline.
Quincy Smith, executive director of Team Pursuit, described what the league was actually teaching. "It's really about us, really focusing in on conflict resolution, how to really self-regulate those emotions when there's kind of intense situations, how do they remain calm," Smith said. "So we're teaching them a lot of skills that go a long way."
Ciera Renee, director of programs for FORCE Detroit, made the same case from a different angle. Sports are the draw. The real curriculum happens off the field.
"We are using sports as a way to engage them, but it's what we're doing off the court where we're teaching them accountability, emotional regulation," Renee said. "So we built that into this core curriculum, so when they hit this field, they can also exercise those skills as well."
Martell Jones, a Denby High School student who competed Friday, kept it short: "They give you an opportunity to show your best and do your best. Every single last one of these coaches, they're here to help you get better."
The league runs inside Detroit's broader "Occupy the Summer" initiative, which is expanding teen programming across city neighborhoods as the city works to address incidents described as teen takeovers. The portfolio also includes the return of midnight basketball, extended recreation center hours, and weekly events in different neighborhoods on Friday nights.
The CVI framing is the thing that separates this from a standard rec league. These organizations exist to interrupt cycles of street violence, working with young people in the neighborhoods where that violence is most concentrated. Turning them toward summer sports is deliberate strategy: give teens structure, give them mentors who know the work, and make sure the adults keep showing up.
"They have people that's continuously around them that's supportive of them and the decisions that they're making to be here today," Renee said. "So I think it's very important to create those safe spaces for them."
"Occupy the Summer" programming runs through the summer months. FORCE Detroit and Team Pursuit are among the city-connected CVI organizations running the calendar. The Chandler Park Fieldhouse Dome is on Detroit's northeast side.
