[Danielle Balocca]: Hey listeners, this is Danielle. And Shelley. Shelley is a radical Dravidian and racial equity activist.
[Chelli Keshavan]: And Danielle is a community mobilizer and changemaker. And this is the Medford Bites podcast. Every two weeks, we chew on the issues facing Medford and deliver bites of information about the city by lifting the expertise of our guests.
[Danielle Balocca]: Join us in discussion about what you hope for the future of Medford. And as always, tell us where you like to eat. All right, thank you both for being here with me today. We could start just by introducing yourselves. So if you could say your name, pronouns, and who you are.
[SPEAKER_03]: Hello, thank you for having us. We're very happy to be here. My name is Mikayla Paquette. I go by the she, her series. And your other questions, that's bad, I forgot.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, just for the purpose of the podcast, who are you today?
[SPEAKER_03]: Um, I'm currently a senior playing basketball at Tufts University and studying sociology and civic studies. And then I'm also the founder of Community Hoops, a nonprofit organization, working to empower the next generation of basketball players through skill development and community building and engagement.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thank you.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, my name is Callie O'Brien. I am a master's student at Tufts University. I'm a point guard and I'm currently getting my master's in biology. And I help make out as a skill trainer and coach here at Community Hoops.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thank you. Yeah, thank you. So we were hoping to talk mostly about community hoops today. And this program that you both are working for. Before we do that, though, we'll ask you the same question that we ask everyone on the podcast, which is what is your favorite place to eat in Medford? And what do you like to eat there? Good question.
[SPEAKER_01]: Is Semolina in Medford?
[SPEAKER_03]: I was just about to ask that. It is, yes.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, then that's got to be Semolina. The vodka pizza from Semolina. That's what I get every time.
[SPEAKER_03]: And the vodka pasta is my favorite.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, it's been a while since I've been there, but that's a great place to be. So Community Hoops, we met each other briefly at Oktoberfest a couple weeks ago, and you guys were there kind of promoting your work with Community Hoops. So I don't know if you can share what Community Hoops is, kind of what you want people in Medford to understand about your work.
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I can start cow. So community hoops is something that I started last March. Like I said before, I'm a civic studies and sociology major so a lot of what I do, like on the whole academic side is very civically focused. And then obviously playing collegiate basketball I realized that, you know, with this position that I have, I'm able to bring people together and I also you know I'm a true believer in the strength and, you know, the strength of basketball and the power of it. So last March, I started, and it's actually a almost like a two site program. So it's a we're working in the medford and some rural area i'm from boston so it's kind of this local level. skill development camps. I was working at Mystic Learning Center over the summer. And then the other half of it is over in South Africa, which I also lived over there for a little bit. In South Africa, there's three different sites throughout Johannesburg, and we're working with three different community organizations that I've had ties with, you know, for most of my life, and kind of bringing basketball to them and bringing another way of community engagement. In South Africa they're dealing with a lot of youth unemployment and domestic abuse and violence. And so, sports has been one of those ways that they're trying to push kids into a. a safe environment. And so kind of bringing basketball bringing that community, building sense of identity and expression to these kids has been something that just feels like I'm pulled towards. And so those are kind of like the two prongs of it, and we're operating, you know, we'll be on the ground in South Africa this summer. But right now, Callie, you know, is basically leading our Sunday camps, which we run at Tufts every Sunday. And yeah, Callie, you can talk a little bit more about that.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think Mick and I have both been lucky enough to, when we were younger, be trained kind of in one-on-one sessions and clinics. And it's something we both enjoyed, and we kind of wanted to bring to the athletes and kids around us. So Sundays are really a time to obviously focus on skill development and working on our basketball skills, but we also really try to emphasize being a great teammate and communicating and things like that that are great skills to have off of the court too and in life. So we try to get better at basketball, but also get better in a lot of other ways.
[Danielle Balocca]: So you're saying that, so there's a clinic that happens on Sundays. So how would like residents of Medford, how would we get involved with like either parts of your program?
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, so we send out a link each week. We have kind of like an e list right now that has a refreshed sign up for Sunday clinics. And that's also available on our community hoop social media on Instagram as well. And then there's also another link that has some more information about the South Africa side of the program and ways to kind of get involved that way, whether it's donating time, money, or wisdom and kind of whatever it may look like. But yeah, so we're mainly running off of the Instagram until we get our website up and running. But right now that's kind of where you can go to access all of our info and ways to get involved.
[Danielle Balocca]: And we can make sure to put that information in our show notes so people can access it more easily. Yeah. And so, you know, we were chatting a little bit before we started recording and I was kind of describing how the podcast, you know, tries to focus on kind of equity and inclusivity in the city of Medford and how we can sort of be doing a better job of that. And I, it feels like your work is very much focused on that type of theme. I wonder kind of if, If you thought kind of longer term what your hope would be in terms of an impact on the city.
[SPEAKER_03]: I think, for me, being from this area, it's very. I don't know, I've been in a constant kind of state of reflection, just so proud of Boston and, you know, the surrounding neighborhoods and cities. And then now being here in Medford for like four years, you know, it becomes to like, you know, more like home and like, especially such important years of my life spent here. And I think at the end of the day, it's all about this opportunity of basketball that brought me here. And I think that just kind of shows that for me, things that you're passionate about things that make you happy. like to step into those, to lean into that. And it kind of can allow you to bring that to other people. So I think that's kind of my goal is just to continue to share the power of basketball, the power of community. And it's really nice to be able to be selfish a little bit and share it with this, you know, small area, but also to expand it globally as well, because, you know, we're all a part of, you know, one community at the end of the day, and we're all playing the same game. just kind of thinking about it, you know, up close to home and also like far away too.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah. Would you add anything to that Kelly?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think that covers a lot. I feel like access is an important thing to the both of us. And I think being from New York, I know a lot of times for me to participate in something like this, you kind of had to be part of a travel team or a certain school or have a certain level of skill and experience. And that's something that we kind of wanted to reduce the barriers for in doing this. Any skill level is welcome. You don't have to be on an AU team or a school team. And we know how important basketball is to us and how much it teaches you. That really has nothing to do with basketball at all. We wanted those things to kind of be accessible to whoever is interested.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, I remember being like a kid and being really into sports and like role models are really important. Like if you have, and we have a great resource of Tufts and Medford, right? And so being able to know like, Oh, like to learn from college, like a college athlete would, would have been like really cool as a kid, as a kid. So I'm sure that it's, it's a really cool experience for like the youth in the area to get that, to get that opportunity. Is there an age, like an age range or age, like restriction for the clinics?
[SPEAKER_03]: So we say like eight to 13, but we've had sometimes high school kids, we've had like six-year-olds sometimes. When we had camp, there was like a four and five-year-old. So we're really, you know, if you're willing to pick up a basketball and, you know, play with us and work hard, it doesn't really matter what age you are. I want to start some adult clinics, too, at some point, but that that will will will unfold later.
[Danielle Balocca]: And, you know, we were saying kind of having role models in the community is important and you're you both are entering your final season for the Tufts basketball team. All right. And when does that season start?
[SPEAKER_01]: We start practice on Tuesday.
[Danielle Balocca]: And so where can we come to watch you guys play?
[SPEAKER_01]: Cousins, we have a lot of home games this season actually, especially in the beginning. I think we start like mid November with games. So yeah, come out and watch it. It should be a fun, it should be a fun year.
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. We try and be a fun team to watch. So it should be exciting. We've got a lot of prove this year, so it's always going to be, it's always going to be fun. Great.
[Danielle Balocca]: And one other question. Who are you hoping to win the WNBA finals?
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, that's a crazy question. Don't get us started on this because we're on three different sides of the spectrum. Yeah.
[SPEAKER_03]: We're in some beef right now. Um, I'm a huge Nafisa Collier fan. So I, and Maya Moore is my favorite player of all time.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I want the Lynx to win, but Callie is, I'm from New York city, so I'm rooting for the Liberty. I also love Sabrina. Yeah. And after that shot the other day, I'm sorry, Mick, but I think it's going to be over tonight.
[SPEAKER_03]: That's all right. I have hope. I have hope. So that's all that matters, hope and faith.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, and I do wonder about how many Boston fans or Connecticut Sun fans are hoping the Lynx win just because they beat out the Suns. But yeah, it'll be interesting to see. By the time this comes out, we will know the answer. But yeah, is there anything else that you guys want to plug here or let us know about?
[SPEAKER_03]: Well, we just appreciate your time and hope that, you know, we can see some of y'all at games and at our clinics and maybe in South Africa. So, but thank you for having us.
[Danielle Balocca]: For sure. Yeah. Thank you both for being here.
[SPEAKER_03]: Anytime.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. The Medford Bites podcast is produced and moderated by Danielle Balacca and Shelly Keshaman. Music is made by Hendrik Idonis. We'd love to hear what you think about the podcast. You can reach out to us by email at medfordpod at gmail.com, or you can rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts. Thanks so much for listening. Guys, what's the name of the podcast? Never Bites. Never Bites. Good job.