Allen Iverson Comes Home to N.N. Boys and Girls Club for Dinner and Presents

NBA Hall-of-Famer Allen Iverson
gave gifts to 50 local youths last
Tuesday at his old Boys and Girls
Club in Newport News, VA.

As seen in Daily Press on 12/21/2016

http://www.dailypress.com/sports/highschool/dp-spt-allen-iverson-boys-and-girls-club-1220-20161220-story.html

Allen Iverson came home for Christmas.

More specifically, Iverson was in Newport News on Tuesday night to donate toys and gifts, and provide a barbeque dinner for 50 children at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Hampton Roads.

While this visit followed a similar gathering in Portsmouth last night, there was a special significance to Tuesday’s event.

“Allen grew up in this Boys and Girls Club. This is where he learned to play sports and learned to grow,” said Hal Smith, President and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula, adding that Iverson split his formative years between the Greater Hampton Roads Club on Hampton Ave., and another club on Shell Road. “It’s incredible to see the generosity he has given to kids in this community.”

Iverson made sure to remind the youths on hand at every opportunity that this is where he came from. While scooping food in the middle of a line of eight servers, that included Congressman Bobby Scott, Iverson talked to the kids, alternately reminding them that they could be anything they want to be, and then pointing out fellow Dallas Cowboy fans in the crowd.

At one point, Iverson put his arm around mother Ann, who sported a #33 Tony Dorsett jersey, and told a group of two dozen children, “I’m right here where you’re all from. And this is who I listen to – my Mom. Listen to your Mom and do what she tells you.”

While some of the youngsters were unaware of their host’s accomplishments as an athlete, two young men needed no explanation.

“Oh, I know who he is! He’s a legend,” said ten-year old Samuel Bates, adding that he is also a basketball player, with the AAU Vikings.

Nine-year old James Neal was also well aware of Iverson’s athletic stature, although he noted that “I have only seen him on video games and TV.”

Tuesday night was all about the kids. “I love being able to do this,” said the 2016 inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame.  Asked about the best part of his life since becoming a Hall-of-Famer, he added, “Being a 24-7 Dad to my kids. Being a better parent.” At one point in the evening, he held his own cell phone up to a group of kids and instructed them to “tell MY kids.. HEY-Y-Y!!”

Iverson’s charisma was on full display throughout the evening, and the kids returned the energy. After they gathered for dinner among six tables spread across the midcourt of the gym, the group congregated in a semicircle near the free throw line for a raffle drawing of gifts. After waiting a couple of minutes for their ticket puller and announcer (Iverson), the kids joined in a rally cry of “Come on Chuck!,” a slightly veiled reference to Iverson’s “Bubba Chuck” nickname from his teenage days at Bethel High.

For James “Poo” Johnson, the event brought back memories, back to days when the main attraction was another one of the kids in the gym. Johnson devoted 45 years to youth development with the Boys and Girls Club, and Iverson was one of his pet projects. But not the only one.

“I’m as proud of him as I am a guy that works at the shipyard,” said Johnson. “But I have to treat him like I treat everybody else.”

For one night at Christmas time, Allen Iverson was back where he started.