Basketball Star Turns Sport Administration Degree into Dream to Help Youth
Mar 30, 2019
Sherwin Anderson was a New York City high school basketball star who came to Xavier in 1996 with high expectations for the hardwood court and few expectations for the classroom.
But just the opposite happened. As Anderson's minutes on the court decreased, his time in the classroom increased. Anderson completed a Bachelor of Liberal Arts and a master's in Sport Administration in five years.
"Instead of going back to Brooklyn, I just stayed here and went to summer school," he says. "I had a scholarship, room and board, so why not?"
A whole new world of sports-off the court-had opened up to him. "I wanted to learn about the licensing, the laws, the responsibilities that go into running a facility, running an athletic program, being a teacher."
He found all that and more in the Sport Administration program, which focuses on sport management and marketing, sport finance, personnel, legal issues, and NCAA rules and regulations. It was just what Anderson needed to fulfill an idea that had been brewing in his mind since he came to Xavier and began learning about the business side of the sports industry.
The program gave him the confidence to follow his dream, and in 2000, just before he graduated, Anderson launched his non-profit Sherwin Anderson Skills Academy. It's been his life's passion ever since.
Anderson's mission is aimed at kids on the streets. "The situation that a lot of these kids are running into once they graduate from high school is you're not a great basketball player, no one is paying for your tuition, you don't get a scholarship, you can't get into a school. So then, what is your next option?"
The Skills Academy focuses on helping kids develop and improve their basketball skills, but the added benefit is the emphasis on social and educational skills that lead to confidence, self-esteem and personal success.
It is located in "the most beautiful gym in the world" adjacent to St. Philippus United Church of Christ in Over-the-Rhine. Pastor Sam Wyatt considers Anderson's work as vital to the community as his own, especially for young men out of high school and uncertain about their future.
"For guys between the ages of 18 and 25, there's not a lot of things for them to do," Wyatt says.
With Anderson, though, every kid who walks into his academy is treated as a star. "I basically mentor more than 200 kids in the area, trying to get the guns off the streets and these kids into colleges," he says. "I'm dealing with young men that no one really wants to deal with."
He's also still honing his own professional skills with the help of a degree that, even more than a decade later, becomes more valuable every year.
Connect with Anderson at his Skills Academy.