Tyran Greene is a basketball coach. He started “Beyond Ballers,” a basketball league formed in 2019 as a way to help kids stay out of trouble and get involved in a team sport.

“A lot of times you don’t know what people’s situations are,” said Greene. "So basketball has always been an outlet for me. If anybody can come here, or any child can come here, and basketball can be an outlet for them like it was for myself, then I’m happy to help and willing to help.”

Now he’s going to be coaching 60 kids at Elmcrest Children’s Center this winter. Elmcrest helps kids with emotional, behavioral and psychiatric needs. It’s a non-profit organization that hasn’t been able to offer organized sports, until this year, when they were able to raise enough money to start a basketball program.

Jerhod Hall, is a shift supervisor at Elmcrest, he says he knows firsthand the impact playing a sport can have on a young person.

“Personally basketball saved my life,” said Hall. “It helped me get into college and do a lot of great things. So I think this is something that will be very special for these kids.”

Jerhod went to Nottingham High School and didn’t plan on going to college until someone told him he could play basketball at a collegiate level. He earned two degrees, which helped him get to where he is today.

“There’s five people on the court, you can be the best person in the world but you can't win by yourself. You have to learn to work with other people, you have to learn how to be a leader as well as a follower. Sometimes you have to be able to take a step back. It was able to put a discipline in me and a drive that made me want to be the best,” said Hall.

The basketball program will run for 10 weeks. Kids will be doing drills and learning basic skills like how to dribble, pass and shoot.

Tyran says basketball has also helped him a lot in life. He hopes it will do the same for the kids.

“Basketball for me has got me to where I’m at now. You can network different jobs and meet different people. I’m hoping some type of friends, family and confidence, all of that, come out of my program,” said Greene.

The community helped raise more than $6,000 in just one day this past Giving Tuesday. Elmcrest serves 2,500 children and family members each year. The program started the first week of December and will run through February.