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At Seven O’clock on Friday night they started. Parents and their daughters ages six to eighteen came to Phifer Middle School, in Pennsauken. Parents and children flooded into the red and blue colored gym. The girls lined up underneath the Pepsi scoreboard and waited for direction. Metal racks filled with basketballs were escorted into the gym. PYAA, Pennsauken Youth Athletics Association, are looking to recruit new young youth.
“I have more boys that try out than girls,” stated Trudy Pegues, Basketball president. Pegues sat at a paperwork scattered table, other PYAA members sat at the bleachers next to her. Because of the shortage of girls, Pegues said that she promotes PYAA girls basketball in middle and high school.
“I have about three hundred boys but only seventy girls.”
Pegues, a Pennsauken resident who has been coaching for seven years out of the twenty years she has been with PYAA, said that she joined the organization because, “no one else wanted to it.” Pegues explained that she started working with PYAA when her two sons were young.
“They needed a coach, and I wanted to help out,” said Pegues.
PYAA is a non-profit organization that offers football, baseball, soccer, cheerleading, and basketball for Pennsauken residents ages six to eighteen.
The Pennsauken organization participates in different trips and events, and gear students in the direction of higher learning.
“We are having a college tour in January at Temple University. The children will take a tour of Temple , and watch the men and women basketball games. We take a lot of trips.”
The PYAA basketball team has participated in trips from New York, to watch the celebrity basketball game to Dorney Park.
“We do this because we love it” described basketball commissioner Kenny Judge. “We don’t get paid to do this, not me, not Trudy.”
Judge sporadically walked back and forth handing paperwork and updating Pegues on what is happening with the tryout, in between her numerous cell phone calls and other volunteers giving her information
Pegues’s job description includes overseeing registration, the 50/50 raffles, and making sure that basketball stays in Pennsauken. Basketball courts have been pulled out of the ground in some parks and on July 25th 2007 a basketball ordinance was set into motion. The ordinance stated that portable basketball nets are not allowed in any roadway or street and basketball play can not take place before 10 a.m. or after 7 p.m. daily.
“Pennsauken use to be predominately white and most of them have moved out but the aristocrats that are left have taken office and are trying to get rid of basketball in Pennsauken,” explained Pegues.
Pegues and fellow Pennsauken Athletics volunteers make sure that students have a place for students to play, where basketball is not endanger of becoming obsolete.
Because of Pegues’s hard work and dedication she acquired attention from Nike. Pegues received a community service award August 16th at Footlocker in the Cherry Hill mall. The award was presented by Philadelphia 76ers basketball forwards, Thaddeus Young and Andre Iguodala.
Pegues has helped the basketball program to grow over 400 children in her last seven years as president
Some girls at the tryouts are returning participates from last year.
“ Basketball is really important to me and I want to play so I can go to college on a basketball scholarship,” explained twelve year old Bianca Cream.
This year will be Bianca’s third year in the program. Bianca waited for her turn to get one of the basketballs. They all took turns practicing their “jump shots,” and some girls were given the chance to move up so they could get a better shot. Though smaller than most of the girls, Bianca did not need the extra help.
“I want to stay in the program until I graduate high school,” Bianca said. “It’s really fun because we get to be involved in a lot of things. I want to play college basketball and I know I have to practice really hard, I know practicing with PYAA will get me there.”
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Around Pennsauken 
I travel around with my son to play basketball, and its really ashame how minorities are treated in this town when it comes to basketball, i’ve made several calls regarding basketball they don’t want to hear it, but soccer is getting million dollar complex when the township could of turned it in to a complex for all sports, but yet they always say its about the youth, i’ve been in this township for 3yrs and I wish I wouldn’t have come here my family don’t like it, they are very prejudice cops are always looking for minorities to do something wrong to stop them. The people that do Volunteer with pyaa basketball I give them all the credit and respect in the world. God Bless
Comment by Randy Jones February 18, 2010 @ 8:12 am