About Us
Our History
Philadelphia Youth Basketball (PYB) was founded in Spring of 2015 by five passionate civic leaders grounded by a common purpose, to empower young people throughout the Philadelphia region to reach their potential as students, athletes, and positive leaders.
PYB has been working hard to build a high-impact and high-quality program, organization, and future youth basketball and education center, quite literally “brick by brick”.
2015
June 2015 – Organization inception.
October 2015 – Launch of PYB’s Annual Middle School Partnership Program (MSPP) in 4 North Philadelphia schools.
2016
April 2016 – 1st April Madness Adult Tournament Fundraiser at the Palestra
June – August 2016 – Launch of PYB’s Annual Collegiate Summer Camp Series.
October 2016 – Year 2 MSPP begins and expands to 6 schools throughout North Philadelphia
2017
January 2017 – 1st Annual MLK weekend “Beyond Basketball” Tournament at the Germantown Friends School.
April 2017 – 2nd Annual April Madness Adult Tournament at the Palestra. (Raised twice the amount of funds from the previous year!)
May 2017 – Launch of PYB’s first gender specific program, the “HoopHers” Girls Empowerment Program, hosted at the Baldwin School.
June – August 2017 – 2nd Annual Collegiate Summer Camp Series, which expanded to include 6 camp weeks at Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia University, Drexel University, LaSalle University, St. Joseph’s University, and Temple University.
August 2017 – PYB partners with Marvin Kilgore to host a camp at the Barrett Playground in North Philadelphia and in Treasure Beach, Jamaica.
October 2017 – 3rd Middle School Partnership Program expands to 8 schools including 6 schools in North Philadelphia and 2 in West Philadelphia.
December 2017 – PYB hosts 1st Annual Trivia & Silent Auction Night
2018
January 2018 – 2nd Annual MLK weekend “Beyond Basketball” Tournament at the Friends’ Central School
March 2018 – PYB hosts the first ever HoopHers Playoffs!
April 2018 – 3rd Annual April Madness Tournament hosted at the Palestra, this year featuring our Middle School Partnership Program All-Star game!
June – August 2018 – 3rd Annual Collegiate Summer Camp Series, which included 6 camp weeks, and 2 new school additions, at Jefferson University, Chestnut Hill College, St. Joseph’s University, Temple University, LaSalle University, and University of Sciences.
2019
January 2019 – HoopHers relaunches at Cobbs Creak Recreation Center through a partnership with the City of Philadelphia Department of Parks & Recreation.
March 14th, 2019 – PYB hosts our 1st Annual Game Time Gala at The Fitler Club, supported by over 60 sponsors, hosting more than 400 attendees to a night of eating, dancing, and silent and live auction fundraising.
March 21st, 2019 – NBA Legend and Author Kobe Bryant surprises PYB student-athletes with a visit to our MSPP partner, Andrew Hamilton Elementary School for a roundtable discussion about his children’s book, The Wizenard Series: Training Camp.
April 2019 – PYB is awarded a 3-year grant from the PEW Charitable Trusts, requiring a strong threshold of data and measurement evaluation.
July 2019 – 4th Annual Collegiate Summer Camp Series extends to seven (7) total weeks, hosted at Friends’ Central School, Jefferson University, LaSalle University, Saint Joesph’s University, Temple University, and University of Sciences.
August 2019 – PYB is awarded the Philadelphia Foundation Keys to Community Grant in support of MSPP, concluded by a 19 day crowd voting campaign.
October 2019 – MSPP relaunches with an increase of 12 middle schools in North and West Philadelphia, on track to serve over 200 student-athletes!
November 2019 – PYB hosts our first ever Girls Empowerment Symposium, featuring WNBA MVP & Champion Elena Delle Donne and a panel of female role models, discussing the challenges female student-athletes face.
2020
January 2020 – PYB launches the Leadership Development Academy, hosted by the McNulty Leadership Program for 16 of PYB’s highest potential emerging leaders.
March 2020 – PYB launches the virtual MSPP Stay at Home Tournament to stay connected with our young people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
June 1st, 2020 – PYB’s celebrates our 5th Anniversary!
June 9th, 2020 – PYB is awarded the Jeremy Nowak Urban Innovation Award from the Philadelphia Citizen for the new I AM because WE ARE initiative.
Happy 4th Birthday, PYB! A word from our President & CEO
Dear Friends of PYB, June 1, 2019, marks the beginning of the 5th year of operations for Philadelphia Youth Basketball, and we are proud to report that the start-up phase of building a robust and relevant organization has been achieved. This foundational work, which...