New Sports Club to Offer Soccer, Basketball in Crown Heights

By COLlive reporter

A new sports club which will provide organized recreational sports for children is opening in Crown Heights.

The sports club is being founded by Dovid and Malka Lew, Crown Heights residents who both have experience in education in local schools, and appreciate the importance of children having access to organized sports and regular exercise.

“We both love Crown Heights, and we know how important it is for kids to have opportunities like this, so they can grow and succeed,” Dovid Lew told COLlive.com.

With Crown Heights children living in an urban area like Brooklyn, many don’t have access to real organized sports, and the sports club will provide that for them so they can grow and benefit. In the past 2 years, during Covid lockdowns, it has been especially rough on children living in cramped apartments and homes in the neighborhood. The sports club will provide a large, open space and professional facilities for them to have an opportunity to exercise, run, and play freely, with the proper supervision and care.

Crown Heights Sports will be held at the new Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center, which has recently opened at 1561 Bedford Avenue in Crown Heights.

Built at the site of the former Armory, the state-of-the-art, 60,000 square-foot retrofitted drill shed will serve Crown Heights as a neighborhood recreation center, complete with a 25-meter, six-lane competitive swimming pool, basketball courts, and a multi-purpose court able to accommodate a wide variety of sports, including soccer and community programming.

“Investing in our people and communities, especially in ones that have often been overlooked, is how we build a recovery for all of us,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio, who attended the ribbon-cutting event in Crown Heights for the center’s opening last month. “The Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center will provide New Yorkers a place to thrive and grow for generations to come.”

With the opening of Crown Heights Sports in the new center, all children have the chance to take advantage of this new facility, for the benefit of the entire community.

It’s important for children to move their bodies and get more exercise, which benefits mental health, general health, and self-esteem, and being part of an organized league teaches kids about sportsmanship and teamwork as well. “This is something you can’t get just from a classroom,” Dovid Lew noted.

Crown Heights sports will offer both soccer and basketball games once a week with committed coaches and professional referees, in a Chasidishe environment.

The cost is $400 per season, with games once a week for 13-14 weeks (excluding holidays.)

The first season will run from Chanukah to Purim. Signup includes 1 game weekly, a jersey, and yarmulka.

Special thank you to Yossi Langsam, Rabbi Shloimy Greenwald,, Zalmy Cohen and Rabbi Moshe Pinson for their assistance in making Crown Heights Sports a reality.

Schedule:
Girls soccer: Sundays 5 – 8 PM
Grades 2 – 8

Boys soccer: Thursdays 6 – 9 pm
Grades 1 – 8

Boys basketball: Mon. thru Thurs. 4-6 pm
Grades 2 – 7

Each session is 45 minutes to an hour. As each group fills up, a schedule and details will be sent.

Crown Heights Sports, 1561 Bedford Avenue.
[email protected]
crownheightsports.com
Click here to sign up.