Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Park District Superintendent and CEO Michael Kelly, Alderman Emma Mitts and Scottie Pippen announced the second year of a partnership with Nike to offer free basketball skills clinics in neighborhood parks across the City. The free clinics, known as Chi League Parks, will be held every Saturday this summer, starting May 31.
The Chi League Parks program, created by Nike in partnership with the Chicago Park District, offers a safe place for kids 10-18 to participate in an immersive basketball and life skills clinic. This year, the program has been expanded to reach 10,000 Chicago kids, up from 5,000 kids last year.
Individuals can register for Chi League Parks by visiting parks in-person and selecting a 9-13 year-old grouping or a 14-18 year-old grouping. The 10-week kickoff schedule is listed below. Additional dates and locations for the remainder of the year will be released later this summer.
- May 31: Columbus Park
- June 7: Taylor Park
- June 14: Franklin Park
- June 21: Washington Park
- June 28: LaFollette Park
- July 12: Garfield Park
- July 19: Fernwood Park
- July 26: Homan Square
- August 2: Ogden Park
- August 9: Foster Park
In addition to Chi League Parks, the Park District offers a variety of other youth programming in the summer. In 2013, the Park District offered 14,721 programs that engaged 223,353 young people in Chicago.
