Kenneth Wirth: How Teamwork Foundation Builds Achievement through Sports
Kenneth Wirth is the cofounder of the Connecticut Flame,
a boy’s AAU basketball program which provides boys,
many from underprivileged backgrounds with the
opportunity to succeed through basketball. Wirth also sits
on the Board of Teamwork Foundation.
Every year, the Teamwork Foundation reaches out to 500
children from some of the Bronx’s toughest
neighborhoods. Through a combination of mentoring,
tutoring, and elite sports training, the foundation gives
these boys and girls the tools and skills they’ll need to
succeed in school and in the world. The Teamwork
Foundation primarily serves residents of the South Bronx.
These neighborhoods have a 23% high-school drop-out rate
and a 24% adult unemployment rate. Nearly half of the children
in some of these areas in poverty. Recently the Foundation
expanded into Westchester to bring their meassage and method
to the suburbs.
Through the Teamwork Foundation, these children receive the
opportunity to train for and participate in some of the most elite
travel teams nationally. The ultra elite Gaucho Basketball
program has succeeded nationally in developing a number of
star college basketball players. Alumni of the Gaucho
organization have won NCAA championships and participated in
the Tournament. The Gaucho group is represented in the NBA,
International Basketball,coaching and the media. No
organization in the nation equals the impact and success of the
Gaucho name.
Their forty-five year legacy is at the heart of
what drives Teamwork Foundation. Mr Wirth
recently attended and served on the
committee for the Annual Teamwork
Foundation Gala. The evening highlighted
Stephen A Smith as guest speaker, honored
and installed Chris Mullin, an alumnus, into
the Hall of Fame.