His first was Edgar Jones, from Newark NJ, who participated in the first ever NBA slam dunk competition. Another was Kyrie Irving, considered one of the most skillful players ever to play in the NBA. A third is Al Harrington, who credits Sandy’s specific skill work with allowing him to go straight from High School to the NBA. Al only started playing basketball in High School!

I am a former player of Sandy’s as well. He started coaching me in middle school. In fact, I met him two years earlier as a fourth grader in his gym class! Who knew we would become lifelong friends and cofounders years later. Probably had something to do with what we still have in COMMON with one another. Being passionate about basketball, and helping KIDS!

Sandy was my high school coach as well, where I scored over 1,000 points, played in college, but most importantly was always impressed by Sandy’s random acts of kindness. It started when my father passed away when I was 15 and Sandy sent a fruit basket to me. As time went on, I thanked him for being there for me in difficult times and told him I would always be there for him.

It continued when he would drive around and pick up kids from different neighborhoods and take them to a local Y to do skill work for their basketball game. Then you would play games where you learned how and when to utilize the skills he was teaching you. I remember sitting in the back seat of an old station wagon with others on the way to play. After we played, but before he dropped us off back home, he would reach under his car mat and bring out a few dollar bills and some loose change and buy us drinks and snacks and meals. On days when the car mat stayed down, some money seemed to magically appear when he pulled it out from one of his socks!

The real gift he gave me though, which I never even realized at the time, was growing up playing basketball with kids from all different backgrounds. He was a pioneer of building bridges between communities. He was a pioneer in making the world a friendlier and better place. So many times in life it’s the little things that matter. Those little things add up to big things.

Sandy’s random acts of kindness made me always want to be there for him if he ever needed my help. So when the Covid pandemic hit, and Sandy asked if I could think of ways to help him impact as many kids as possible, I decided to fulfill my promise to always be there for him. He had always been accountable to the kids he helped, and as one of those kids, I wanted to return the favor and then some. My integrity was pulling at me, the hardest it ever had in my life!

I have worked in basketball and beyond environments for over 30 years. Along the way I became a “youth expert.” For instance, we asked over 300 kids in 3 different towns what 3 words meant: accountability, endurance, and resiliency. Not one knew the answer.

So our story grew and we created our ‘Ten Terms To Success.” Informal educational experiences to help kids succeed on and off the court. To all the parents out there, imagine how successful your kids would be if they implemented these ten terms in their daily lives. It’s that simple and we’re here to help. We lived the “Ten Terms To Success” ourselves in building Common Courts For Kids.

There is even more to our story, but as the saying goes, don’t pay attention to what people say, pay attention to what people do. We create opportunities for transformation. It’s been a lot of hard work, and there will always be more hard work to do. There are so many ways we can all help kids together! As long as our focus stays on helping kids, we know our future is bright.

Because the kids of today are the adults of tomorrow. Welcome to Common Courts For Kids!

With appreciation and gratitude,

Seth B* Schwartz, M.Ed.
Common Courts For Kids

*Basketball and Beyond