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Springfield College, Basketball Hall of Fame, and YMCA Celebrate Historic Triangular Relationship in Basketball

April 13, 2012


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Surrounded by supporters of the Dunbar Y Family & Community Center, three local youths were the first to make layups using the new glass backboards in Dunbar’s basketball gymnasium at a celebration held to dedicate the new backboards Friday afternoon. A few minutes later, Springfield College president Richard B. Flynn joined the youths for an impromptu shoot-around.

Springfield College and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame strengthened their existing partnership by collaborating to donate the NBA-Style Glass Backboards to the Dunbar Y Family & Community Center. Flynn, John L. Doleva, the president and CEO of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and Kirk Smith, President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Springfield, gave brief speeches during the ceremony about the importance of continuing to support the Dunbar Center.

“The Dunbar Center is an important resource for the Springfield community and we are pleased to be a part of this celebration,” said Flynn. “Springfield College maintains very close ties with both the YMCA movement and the Basketball Hall of Fame.  We believe that both of these fine organizations are guided by principles and values that are absolutely consistent with the mission of Springfield College – educating students in spirit, mind, and body for leadership in service to others.”

“We couldn’t be more grateful to two wonderful assets in the city of Springfield, namely Springfield College and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, who have come together to fulfill a dream of the Dunbar Center to have modern NBA-Style backboards in our gymnasium. We offer special thanks to the college and the
Hall of Fame without whose generosity and the outreach of their organizations we would not be here celebrating today,” said Smith.

“Basketball is huge part of Springfield’s history – particularly in Mason Square,” added Smith. “This donation not only provides opportunities for youth in our communities to play at a higher level, it acknowledges the longstanding triangular relationship between our three organizations. The Dunbar Y is proud to add the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Springfield College to the growing list of donors who are committed to ensuring that Dunbar will continue to serve families in this community, as it has for nearly 100 years. While we continue to seek the resources we need for Dunbar to continue its vital mission in Mason Square, donations like the one we celebrated today will go a long way in continuing and expanding Dunbar’s traditions.”


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