CLR Academy Launches in Ypsilanti

Washtenaw My Brother’s Keeper (WMBK) and Association Football Club Ann Arbor (AFC Ann Arbor), in partnership with the Rob Murphy Foundation, The Mighty Oak Project, and the Hart & TayTrain Foundation, have created a new community youth program, CLR Academy.

The free academy is a weekly program supporting young kids’ right to dream, believe, create, and explore through sport, nutrition, reading, and writing. It is set to launch this June in Ypsilanti at Sycamore Meadows for its residents and surrounding neighbors. 

CLR Academy will have an official kickoff event on Saturday, June 5th, at Sycamore Meadows from Noon to 1:30PM with music, food, and giveaways. Residents and community members can register their kids for the free program that will continue every Saturday through August at the same time and location. 

Through the partnerships, kids in grades K-8 will have a chance to learn basic soccer, basketball, and football skills, as well as receive free books, balls, snacks, and more. High school students who want to be involved can join as volunteer coaches, earning a stipend for completing the summer program. 

WMBK Project Specialist, Jamall Bufford has spearheaded the efforts to bring free, quality youth programming to Ypsilanti. The academy is the evolution of ongoing efforts by WMBK as Bufford stated, “This past fall, WMBK was approached by Sycamore Meadows neighborhood community member Kelly Goolsby to consider bringing some sort of programming there for the kids. She had started Mindfulness Mondays and Walking Wednesdays primarily for adults in the community, so WMBK stepped up with Sycamore Sports on Wednesdays as well. It was something we created on the fly for the month of October, but we knew we wanted to bring something similar back once the weather warmed up. So CLR is an extension of the work we were doing back in October.” 

CLR, standing for community, leadership, and revolution, utilizes sport for its strongest benefits of positive friendships, social confidence, sense of belonging, and development of team skills while also incorporating mindfulness through conversation, breathing techniques, and journaling. All supplies, books, and equipment will be provided, with books and balls being given to all kids. 

The program will be led by WMBK Steering Committee Member Justin Harper, a longtime Ann Arbor Public Schools paraprofessional and educator, supervisor, coach and official. Coach Harper’s extensive experience working with kids across Washtenaw County makes him the ideal candidate to direct CLR Academy. 

Harper plans to include sportsmanship, respect, discipline, problem solving and resilience into his programming and said, “The power of change starts from within and the experts are the ones living in their community, we're just here to give the opportunity to bridge the gap and build a strong bond amongst each other.” 

AFC Ann Arbor Chair Bilal Saeed, also a WMBK Steering Committee member, has worked closely with Bufford and Harper, focusing on bringing together like-minded individuals and organizations led by men of color that would serve as strategic partners to anchor the program. Saeed looped in longtime partners and friends Nikki Borgess, Rob Murphy, Mike Hart, and Latavius Murray, in addition to AFC Ann Arbor’s non-profit, The Mighty Oak Project, to help increase sports sampling for the participants.

Bufford stressed the role of these specific partners adding, “This is extremely important because we need to let our local Black entrepreneurs know that success is possible with support from people right in your backyard, from people that look like you. We also want our young Black and Brown boys and girls to see the wide array of career possibilities for them, not only as athletes but also coaches, trainers, sports executives, mentors, authors, business owners and more.”

Murphy, who recently left his role as Eastern Michigan University Men’s Basketball Head Coach after ten years to join the Detroit Pistons’ G-League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, as President & GM, is committed to continuing his work impacting the Ypsilanti community. 

“Our intention when creating the [Rob Murphy Foundation] has always been to invest in the Ypsilanti community. This unique partnership/program is an opportunity to join forces with community partners we admire, and our hope is that the unified approach to serving youth can be a blueprint for increased positive impact on the young people in Ypsilanti,” said Murphy. 

Murphy, who also spent time at Syracuse University as an assistant basketball coach, knows the two Syracuse natives Mike Hart and Latavius Murray, who together add the support of a football component to the academy. Hart currently serves as the running backs coach for the University of Michigan while Murray returns to the New Orleans Saints for his ninth NFL season. After working alongside one another in the community for years, the two merged their foundations in 2020 in hopes to strengthen their impact.

“Latavius and I are so excited to partner with the CLR Academy. Youth sports and educational programs played a pivotal role in our lives growing up. The programs being implemented by our partners in this academy will give marginalized youth access to sports and resources that they may not otherwise have. This access could change the trajectory of their entire lives. We believe in these programs and the benefits they will bring to our community,” said Hart. 

AFC Ann Arbor and The Mighty Oak Project are pleased to bring these amazing, like-minded partners together to make CLR Academy a reality. The club will take the lead on soccer programming by implementing their Community Kicks program at this site, in addition to leading the project operations and staffing. 

CLR Academy’s holistic approach includes mindfulness, nutrition, overall wellness, and also emphasizes reading. CLR will provide free books to all participants from local Black authors. This part of the program is what excited The Mighty Oak Project Chair Nick Lacy the most. 

“Many of the lessons learned by playing sports include emotional resilience, mental toughness and positive exposure to new people and perspectives. By adding literacy, these benefits are reinforced. We also feel strongly about supporting local authors and having relatable characters for our young readers. That’s why we’re grateful for the folks at Black Stone Bookstore for providing some wonderful suggestions. Our goal is to have participants of CLR come away with a new book, and an improved sense of belonging, self-worth, and confidence,” said Lacy. 

To learn more about CLR Academy, visit CLRAcademy.org or contact Bilal Saeed at bilal@pakmode.com. 

About Washtenaw My Brother’s Keeper

Washtenaw County My Brother’s Keeper (WMBK) exists to impact boys and men of color by changing narratives, practices, and policies, resulting in transformation of self and community. We aim to transform communities of color by growing and transforming ourselves as men of color, positively change the community’s perception of the contribution made by boys and men of color, and ensure that boys and men of color have spaces that are financially sustained, and responsive to historical and present barriers to success and self-determination.

About The Mighty Oak Project

TMOP was founded to address the opportunity gap in youth soccer. Our goal is to encourage participation and to increase opportunities to play for everyone in our community. We achieve this by partnering with local elementary schools, providing coaching scholarships to women and BIPOC, and collaborating with other organizations that strive to provide opportunities for sport. As the organization evolved, we came to understand that the inequities in youth soccer are really a microcosm of the inequities in our society. By using soccer as a vehicle, we seek to address issues of equity in our community. 

About Rob Murphy Foundation

The mission of the Rob Murphy Foundation is to uniquely identify what will best support groups of underprivileged youth and provide them with resources, opportunity and encouragement that will prepare them to reach for a brighter future. The foundation will take on the challenge in an innovative way through education, wellness, and community involvement. The youth we interact with will have life-changing experiences. 

About Hart & TayTrain Foundation

Mike Hart and Latavius Murray merged foundations in 2020 to strengthen their community impact as their missions aligned perfectly. Together, the two are able to better impact the lives of Black youth in Syracuse and the communities they live and work in. The two have long served the CNY community with free programming, necessities, and food.