Ozanam Inc.—55 years strong

It’s more than basketball; youth are learning important life lessons

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

For something to be alive and well 55 years in the making, somebody must be doing something right.

Ozanam Inc., is an organization that has its own standing, makes its own statement. There aren’t many people in Pittsburgh who don’t know someone who played in its annual Summer League, or learned valuable life skills during the school year... heck, there are thousands of Ozanam alumni who have been part of the community organization.

And once you’re part of it, you never really leave it, so says Dr. Karen Hall, the organization’s assistant executive director. She played basketball with Ozanam as far back as 1979 or 1980, and her team was really ballin’ in 1982, when the team won its first AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) championship, in Boston.

Ozanam is celebrating its 55th year in existence in 2023. It was founded by Carl Kohlman, an African American man who loved kids, loved education, and loved success. He meshed the three together and showed just how one can use athletics as a vehicle to bring kids to the table, where they can be served a healthy dose of education and life skills.

“The uniqueness of Ozanam is, it’s run by the alumni,” Dr. Hall told the New Pittsburgh Courier in an exclusive interview, July 3. “People like Dwight Clay, Ricky Coleman, Sam Clancy, they all came through at the start of the (Ozanam) Summer (Basketball) League, and set the tone for it to be the premier league in Western Pennsylvania, with their superior play,” Dr. Hall said. “Then they all went to college, and laid the (educational) foundation.”

She also mentioned hoop stars like Jennifer Bruce and Mary Meyers; Meyers starred at the University of Kansas, Bruce at Pitt. “And we (including Darelle Porter, Ozanam’s executive director) all fol- lowed them” as stars in Ozanam, and to college as well. Dr. Hall played at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV), and Porter played at Pitt. Dr. Hall played her high school ball at the old Mount Alvernia High School in Millvale, while Porter played at Perry Traditional Academy. Ozanam wasn’t and isn’t an all-Black league, Dr. Hall said. “If you could play, you came to the Hill in Ozanam,” she said, which meant that White players who knew what they were doing on the basketball court were welcome, too.

Ozanam’s Summer League is occurring at three sites this year: Ammon Recreation Center, on Bedford Avenue in the Hill; Manchester Academic Charter School; and the Kingsley Center, in

East Liberty. Ozanam is open to youth ages all the way through high school.

Ozanam is holding its Summer League Champions Weekend at Manchester Academic Charter School’s outside courts on July 15, beginning at 2 p.m. It will be followed by an Alumni Cookout on July 16 at Ammon Recreation Center, beginning at 2 p.m.

Ozanam will begin its

“fall programming” at the end of August, held exclusively at the Ammon Recreation Center. Dr. Hall said that’s where kids learn so many life skills; how to listen to others who may be speaking, how to increase their confidence, “find their voice,” as Dr. Hall said, “and how to get to know people and get along with people.”

The youth learn proper study habits, have character-building exercises, and they take trips to historic places in the Hill to teach them about the neighborhood’s long and storied history.

But back to Dr. Hall, and that trip she took to Boston 41 years ago. There are youth in Ozanam whose first time on an airplane was through the organization. That rings true for Dr. Hall. Heading to Boston for AAU basketball with Ozanam in 1982 as a high schooler marked her first time on a plane.

That was part of the vision of Ozanam’s founder, Carl Kohlman. He called them “cultural exchange games,” where Ozanam teams would play in a different city, say Philadelphia or New York, and after the games, the youth would visit different parts of the city. In recent years, Ozanam youth visited the historic Rucker Park in New York City. Rucker Park is renowned for its