MANCHESTER, NH – More than 70 young people took to the basketball court at Pulaski Park on Saturday for some dazzling displays of talent. The ROSS Leaders Back to School Summer Shootout, which included the distribution of school supplies, was a party atmosphere, giving the youth a chance to show off their skills and reconnect in advance of school starting in a few short weeks.
But it was much more than fun and games.
They played under the watchful eye of Los Angeles Lakers power forward Wenyen Gabriel, who grew up in this same neighborhood and, along the way, took plenty of his own shots, developing skills, working hard and gaining enough confidence in his talents to excel in the NBA.
The event was co-sponsored by two youth-focused organizations endorsed by Gabriel – ROSS Leaders and So Elite Basketball Training – and part of a series of basketball camps with global implications. Both organizations have a shared mission of cultivating future leaders through education, mentorship, and cultural identity, especially with youth growing up in refugee resettlement communities.
Gabriel, along with a group representing both organizations, just returned last week from a trip to his home country of South Sudan where he organized a basketball camp. It was the first time he had been able to return to his birthplace. South Sudan, Gabriel says, was established in 2011 following the civil war that drove his family out, but it still wasn’t safe to travel there until a peace treaty was signed in 2018.
Through the mission trip of introducing young people to basketball, Gabriel got to return to his beautiful country for the first time, accompanied by his mother.
Gabriel, now 25, was just 5 months old when his family fled the political turmoil of civil war in Sudan, which eventually led them to a refugee camp in Egypt and then to Manchester when Gabriel was 2, through the UN Refugee Agency. During this recent journey to his home country he was able to meet families currently living in an IDP (Internally Displaced People) camp in Mongalla, South Sudan.
The refugee situation in South Sudan is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, Gabriel says. Finding a way to begin to give back, to help rebuild and restore hope – especially to the children – is important to him.
“Being able to go back to South Sudan was a real good experience,” Gabriel said. Connecting with elders from his tribe, the Dinkas, and many family members who remained in South Sudan, gave him a sense of home and belonging for the first time in his life, he said.
And it helped magnify the gratitude he feels for the American life he’s lived, even through the hardships of refugee resettlement and the incredible work he’s put in to rise to success in the NBA. He says he understands more now than ever how blessed he is to be able to return to his home country and connect with young people through the sport that has given him so much.
PHOTO GALLERY BY STACY HARRISON
Above: Action on the court at Pulaski Park during the Aug. 13 Back to School Summer Shootout sponsored by ROSS Leaders and So Elite.
They don’t have any indoor courts there, and most of the kids play soccer because all you need is a ball. He is hoping to help nurture an interest in basketball and, perhaps, help shape more future NBA careers.
“The Dinkas are the tallest people in the world, yet they don’t know anything about playing basketball,” said Gabriel. “Think of how much potential there is for others to succeed, as I have.”
He used his own resources to fund the trip and is hoping to gain support from other organizations. He feels a responsibility to give back and lead the way. He says he’s the first Sudanese NBA player to do so.
“I didn’t realize how much of a blessing it was at the time, coming to America. You look different from everybody and you get treated a little differently at first. You just know you’re different. I didn’t realize until later on that I was blessed to be here. Even going home to South Sudan, nobody in my family there has running water or electricity – and I have way more family over there than I do here. I learned so much about my culture when I went home,” Gabriel said.
He was welcomed like a hero and greeted at the airport by the village elders. He spent time listening to villagers speak about how global warming has caused flooding and disruption to the community there, keeping people from their homes and farms. He believes there are solutions to these problems that can help South Sudan recover from all that it’s endured. And he believes basketball has a part to play.
“I can’t do everything myself, but I can at least bring some attention to what’s happening there. It’s an injustice,” Gabriel said.
One thing he is doing already is making sure that kids – whether living in South Sudan or growing up in refugee resettlements around the U.S., find mentors as he did, who are ready and willing to help guide them toward a successful future. He says working with ROSS Leaders and creating a global connection with his home country has centered him, and given him a greater sense of purpose.
After a busy summer and enlightening trip to South Sudan, Gabriel’s gearing up for this next season with the Lakers. But he is a dedicated ambassador for both ROSS Leaders and So Elite, and will be participating in one more basketball camp in Manchester, on Aug. 19 (although registration is closed due to high demand – the session was capped at 250 participants.)
ROSS (for Republic of South Sudan) Leaders was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, by Jacob Idra, who grew up as part of that city’s South Sudanese resettlement community.
Idra says those who have grown up in the U.S. as refugees are now in a position to lead, and fill a need that has been largely unaddressed.
“The younger kids are not getting enough attention,” Idra said.
PHOTO GALLERY BY STACY HARRISON
Above: Action on the court at Pulaski Park during the Aug. 13 Back to School Summer Shootout sponsored by ROSS Leaders and So Elite.
ROSS Leaders newest chapter is being established in Manchester by Majak Wenyin and Christina Bol.
Wenyin and Bol, both of Manchester, came up playing basketball under the direction of Sudi Lett, Terry Mann and other mentors through the Bishop Elite AAU program, formerly run from the Bishop O’Neil Youth Center. So Elite, founded by Wenyin, is based on the principles of basketball training and mentorship he learned growing up in Manchester – and he connected with Idra, says Wenyin, through a common mentor in North Carolina.
Wenyin, a 2013 Memorial High School graduate and 2018 graduate of Howard University, and Bol, a 2020 Trinity graduate and currently a junior at Southern New Hampshire University, are living what they learned, bringing the lessons of team sport, leadership, knowledge and discipline to the next generation of young people.
“We were the first group of kids with Bishop Elite,” Wenyin said, and now we’re making sure we continue that. Basketball is how we get them but not every single kid is going to the NBA. The program provides them with guidance and knowledge, and they learn to help each other.”
Bol, who is the director of the Manchester chapter of ROSS Leaders, says putting something together for the kids that’s exciting and fun, like Saturday’s event, is important.
“But as they said, we’re more than athletes; basketball is the tool we use to unite us,” Bol says. As for what the future holds as the Manchester chapter grows, “more of this,” says Bol. “More of getting together and building our community.”
