The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH the 25th Peace On Da Street still on hold until later this summer when more COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, Apostle Carlos Reid is preparing for the first Michael ‘Scooter’ Reid School Edition of the Youth Against Violence basketball tournament this month.

Apostle Reid confirmed that the Michael ‘Scooter’ Reid Peace On Da Street School Edition will take place from May 24-29 at the Hope Center, which will eventually be named in honour of his deceased brother Michael ‘Scooter’ Reid.

“This year, we know that we are still in the COVID-19 environment and to do something of the magnitude of the Peace On Da Street might be too far-fetched right now,” Reid said. “So after the death of my brother, Scooter Reid, in December, we decided to come up with something that will help his legacy to live on.”

As a basketball legend, who not only played the game but taught in the high schools and helped to organise the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture’s Father Marcian Peters Invitational for schools, Apostle Reid said this is one of the easiest ways for them to honour ‘Scooter’ Reid.

“After our legends die, we remember them for a year or two,” he said. “That’s not going to happen for my brother. So we decided to do the school division in his honour.

“We will feature the senior boys, junior boys and primary boys, along with some of the girls teams. We know that a lot of these high school teams didn’t have any opportunity to play this year because of the pandemic.”

With so much talent available in the country, Apostle Reid said they are overshadowed because of a lack of exposure and that is what they intend to do with the ‘Scooter’ Reid Tournament for schools.

“We are on a mission and our mission is to prepare and create opportunities for our young people to be exposed,” Apostle Reid said.

“There’s no reason why a lot of our young people don’t get the opportunity to pursue higher education in the United States and Canada and we want to provide the opportunity for these high school players to perform.”

Once this High School segment is completed, Reid said they will look at the Peace On Da Street Tournament for the open men, church and celebrities sometime in August. “We want to see how this COVID-19 trend is by then,” he stated. “We know we are into the third wave. But we don’t know how serious it will be. And because of the magnitude of the Peace On Da Street with the amount of persons involved, we decided to wait and see how things turn out in the next few months going into the summer.”

Also during the high school tournament, Apostle Reid said they are planning on renaming the basketball courts at the Hope Center to the Michael ‘Scooter’ Reid Basketball Courts.

It was a promise Apostle Reid made after the death of ‘Scooter’ Reid in December as he keeps the memory of his beloved brother alive.