Basketball tournament encourages youth to “leave it all on the court,” shoot hoops, not people

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Rosheka Davis hosted the second annual “Leave it on the Court,” an event giving teens a place to be a part of the community, and teaching them to strive for a higher position.

After watching the news and seeing stories of so many young people in the Midlands losing their lives to gun violence, Davis wanted to come up with a way to spread good news.

“We have enough light on the problems. We have enough problems, we know that,” Rosheka Davis said.

The main message was to shoot hoops, not people. Eight teams played in the tournament with players 12 years old and up.

“I got tired of hearing about the problem, and not being a solution. Seeing no one else try to be a solution,” Davis said.

No free throws, no fouls, and no timeouts, just a time to leave it all out there. Davis says the game has been helpful for her own life.

“I, myself, was saved by basketball when I was a youth, so it’s full circle. Life goes full circle,” Davis said.

Davis has plans to expand the mission of “Leave it on the Court,” and create programs for not just teens, but children and adults, too.

GodSpeed21, one of the teams playing today, got its name from the man coaching them.

Darius Perry says playing with the team has given him and other youth in his area something meaningful to be a part of.

“It means a lot, it brings a lot of people in our area together, and helps some of the kids out,” Darius Perry said.

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