Lincoln-Sudbury grad Jeff Venter hosts second annual 'Play 4 Peace' basketball event

Tommy Cassell, MetroWest Daily News
·4 min read

BOSTON — Jeff Venter wants to bridge the gap.

Following the death of George Floyd in May 2020, when Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by 44-year-old police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, Venter created a basketball event designed to bring urban and suburban kids together to play hoops with police officers.

The basketball tournament is called ‘Play 4 Peace.’

“We don’t want our kids to be afraid of the police. We’re all in this together,” Venter said. “We wanted to explain to the kids that these police officers, who are putting their lives on the line, are from your community.

“We wanted to let them know that we’re on the same team.”

On Saturday, Venter, a 1988 Lincoln-Sudbury graduate, and some of his high school classmates hosted the second annual ‘Play 4 Peace’ basketball event at Boston’s Harambee Park.

“Our class has always been very close and we’ve always stayed in touch and we’ve always been very supportive of each other, and Jeff had this idea and people really rallied around it,” said Lauren Mahoney, an L-S class of ’88 grad who volunteered.

“Jeff approached us two years ago with this idea that he wanted to do and within 24 hours a total of $22,000 was raised from our class so Jeff could start this project,” said Gabrielle (Daniels) Henken, who also volunteered and graduated with Venter. “How can you say no to Jeff?”

Starting at 9 a.m. and ending just before 4 p.m., more than 150 kids draped in different colored ‘Play 4 Peace’ T-Shirts played alongside Boston police officers in a 3-on-3 half-court tournament. It was a big step forward for Venter and his team after the inaugural tourney featured about 40 kids.

Boston teens play 3-3 basketball during the "Play 4 Peace" tournament at Harambee Park in Boston, July 30. The second annual event was created by a group of friends from Lincoln-Sudbury High School Class of 1988.
Boston teens play 3-3 basketball during the "Play 4 Peace" tournament at Harambee Park in Boston, July 30. The second annual event was created by a group of friends from Lincoln-Sudbury High School Class of 1988.

“This was unbelievable. I think it exceeded our expectations,” Venter said. “The whole point was getting the word out and I think we accomplished that big time. We landed the plane.”

Keny Abel, a cadet in the Boston Police, played in the event on Saturday.

The 23-year-old from Roxbury felt it was important to participate since – not too long ago – he was just like the kids who played alongside him.

Philip Hillman, a 1988 graduate of Lincoln-Sudbury High School, follows the action during the "Play 4 Peace" 3-on-3 basketball tournament at Harambee Park in Boston, July 30. The second annual event was created by a group of friends from the Lincoln-Sudbury Class of 1988.
Philip Hillman, a 1988 graduate of Lincoln-Sudbury High School, follows the action during the "Play 4 Peace" 3-on-3 basketball tournament at Harambee Park in Boston, July 30. The second annual event was created by a group of friends from the Lincoln-Sudbury Class of 1988.

“It makes me feel at home. When (I’m) not in uniform I’m basically them. You wouldn’t be able to tell,” Abel said. “When I’m not in uniform, I look just like these kids and we’re basically the same kids. I want these kids to just know they can be anyone they want to be in life.”

Carter DeMichele, a rising junior at Lincoln-Sudbury, volunteered at ‘Play 4 Peace’ last year and helped spread the word about the event this summer. Although the L-S football and baseball player wasn’t able to attend Saturday’s occasion, DeMichele hopes to continue to advocate for the tournament moving forward.

“Based on events in our country in recent years, I feel that more than ever these positive relationships between the police and the kids are needed,” he said.

A group of youngsters play basketball during the "Play 4 Peace" 3-on-3 basketball tournament at Harambee Park in Boston, July 30. The second annual event was created by a group of friends from the Lincoln-Sudbury Class of 1988.
A group of youngsters play basketball during the "Play 4 Peace" 3-on-3 basketball tournament at Harambee Park in Boston, July 30. The second annual event was created by a group of friends from the Lincoln-Sudbury Class of 1988.

During the middle of the tourney, Boston Police Department Deputy Superintendent Jimmy Chin gave a speech. Puma presented 100 pairs of sneakers to dole out to kids while Venter dished out gold trophies to winners from the 9U, 12U, 15U and 18U divisions.

All in all, it was a good day for basketball – and building relationships.

Jeff Venter, left, and Boston Police Supt. Jimmy Chin watch youngsters play basketball during the "Play 4 Peace" 3-on-3 basketball tournament at Harambee Park in Boston on July 30. Venter and a group of friends from Lincoln-Sudbury High School's Class of 1988 created and run the second annual event.
Jeff Venter, left, and Boston Police Supt. Jimmy Chin watch youngsters play basketball during the "Play 4 Peace" 3-on-3 basketball tournament at Harambee Park in Boston on July 30. Venter and a group of friends from Lincoln-Sudbury High School's Class of 1988 created and run the second annual event.

“All the kids are out here and I wanted to come out to participate (with) the cops,” said Kervenslee Blanc, a 17-year-old from Hyde Park who won the 18U division.

Henken said: “It’s more than putting a sign on the lawn.”

“This is about getting them to know our police officers,” Venter added. “And our police officers getting to know our kids.”

Venter hopes to expand the ‘Play 4 Peace’ tournament in the coming years. He also hopes to someday have the event go national. The L-S alum is using basketball as a vehicle to develop stronger relationships between local law enforcement and inner-city kids.

He’s looking to bridge the gap.

Lauren Mahoney, left, Philip Hillman and Andrew Surwilo, all friends from Lincoln-Sudbury High School Class of 1988, confer while helping to run the tournament they helped found, the "Play 4 Peace" 3-on-3 basketball tournament at Harambee Park in Boston on July 30.
Lauren Mahoney, left, Philip Hillman and Andrew Surwilo, all friends from Lincoln-Sudbury High School Class of 1988, confer while helping to run the tournament they helped found, the "Play 4 Peace" 3-on-3 basketball tournament at Harambee Park in Boston on July 30.

“The whole concept of this is not being against each other, but on the same team,” Venter said. “We want to make a difference.”

Tommy Cassell is a senior multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tcassell@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @tommycassell44.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Play 4 Peace: Lincoln-Sudbury alum Jeff Venter hosts basketball tourney