b'daughter was in thirdlooking for a place for her middle school daughter to play basketball. Last grade, that he foundyear, she launched our seventh and eighth grade girls program, says Valen-therewerenolocaltine. Her daughter got involved, started playing apprehensively, and today recreationalbasket- you cant get her off the basketball court.ball leagues for her toSOMA Hoops has allowed kids to form their own community. As Gray join. says, Its just about coming together with your friends in an organized way Manyotherpar- that theres no real expectation beyond coming, playing, having fun and then entssawthesamegoing to get pizza afterwards with the same kids you go to school with.void.LizzieWolff,aBesides organizing a recreational league, SOMA Hoops has also estab-SOMAHoopspar- lishedSOMABasketballBoosters.Thisnonprofitarmsupportsvarious ent,coachandvol- causes in the community, including providing basketball equipment to local unteerinchargeofSOMA Hoopsters take their game to new heights. schools that didnt have any. Valentine and other parents raised funds for bas-marketingandcom- ketballs, cones and rebounders for Clinton Elementary School so kids could munications,says,IhadnoticedOurgoalisnttowinacham- learn to play the game.the lack of a rec league in our townpionshipinthisleague,ValentineThe Boosters has also launched a peer-to-peer program. Current middle because I grew up playing in a recsays. Our goal is tobuild greatschool girls advise fifth-basketball league. For many parents,humanbeingsandtogivethemagrade girls on navigat-this meant that their kids would befunexperiencethatmakesthemingthesocial,emo-missing out on the community, les- want to come back and do this andtionalandacademic sons and experiences that they hadfeel like they can.transitiontomiddle while playing. MaddieStein,age11,says,Ischool. The program al-Valentineandotherparentslove SOMA Hoops because it is alows the older girls to be wanted their kids to play basketballfun and playful environment, and Ileaders and inspires the in a supportive environment, whichlike that I can play my hardest whileyounger ones to do the is why he approached Gray. Throughalso having a really fun time. same.Valentinerecalls theirpartnership,thedepartmentValentineknowshowimpactfulhis fifth-grade daughter handledsignups,foundgymspaceSOMA Hoops has been and can re- saying,Iwanttobe SOMA Hoops relies on volunteers to serve as referees. andprovidedequipmentanduni- count story after story. One exampleAmong them are, L to R, Olivia Roskin, Maayan Blintonthatpanel.Iwant forms.is Courtney Bryant, a mom who wasMidrony and Izzy Cataquet. to tell the fifth graders Montclair Cooperative SchoolEarly Ages - 8th Grade65 Chestnut Street, MontclairThe worldneeds theCo-opHere, I learned how to love deeply. - Co-op AlumVisit us to learn moremontclaircoop.orgfeature story /31'