Moorestown High sophomore Saleem Kazmi (right) with township parks and recreation director Ron Cefalone at Maple Dawson Park.
The township recently had new backboards and breakaway rims installed at the Maple Dawson Park basketball courts – with help from Moorestown High sophomore Saleem Kazmi.
Kazmi and the parks and recreation department held a basketball tournament at the park on Nov. 1 to raise awareness of and funds for the project.
“The old backboards had double rims, and they were half-moon backboards,” said Ron Cefalone, director of parks and rec. “The flight of the ball, when it would hit the rim, (it) would get a different bounce as it would to a proper basketball rim.”
“The backboards (were) really flimsy and loose and small,” Kazmi explained. “People had been complaining about it for a while, and I had been complaining about it for a while.”
Maple Dawson Park – a designated Green Acres area – has many activities, with youth and adult pickup basketball games and a summer youth basketball league on two courts, tennis lessons and friendly matches on four others. It’s a hot spot for avid basketball players like Kazmi. A few months ago, he mentioned to his parents that the backboards weren’t the best, so they suggested he try to change that.
After Kazmi connected with the parks and rec department, they teamed last month to install four new, NBA-style glass backboards at the park.
The township’s Nov. 1 basketball tournament raised funds for Maple Dawson Park’s new glass backboards and breakaway rims.
“Before, they were plastic,” Kazmi noted. “The rims were thick, and it (was) hard for the ball to go in, and the backboards were small, so you couldn’t hit it off the backboard for the ball to go in. These (new) rims, the backboards are almost double the length in height and they’re also made out of glass, so they’re much more stable. And the rims are also single, so they’re easier for the ball to go in.”
“(Moorestown) has a lot of folks with a lot of good energy who are all looking to enhance our parks and open-space areas,” Cefalone pointed out. “I was so excited about these backboards, because I saw the joy that it brought to another town (with the same backboards as Maple Dawson). And our main job is to allow great opportunities for youngsters, middle-age and senior citizens … to recreate.
“And we’re doing that, one park at a time.”
When Kazmi first played on the new backboards, he felt he had achieved his goal. His passion project with parks and rec took four months to complete, and he’s excited to see other athletes make the most out of the Maple Dawson courts.
“If you want to change something, you can always do something about it,” Kazmi observed. “Whether you have to ask somebody to help you … You don’t have to do everything by yourself.”
