We hope you all had an amazing Mother’s Day weekend. Thank you all to all the amazing moms and families who came out to celebrate with us at Project Play last Friday. Your energy, joy, and love made the day truly special. It is always a pleasure to celebrate in community. 💐🎻🌮❤️
Esperamos que todos tuvieron un fin de semana de Día de las Madres estupendo. Gracias a todas las maravillosas madres y familias que nos acompañaron a celebrar en Project Play el viernes pasado. Su energía, felicidad, y amor hicieron el día muy especial. Siempre es un placer celebrar en comunidad. 💐🎻🌮❤️
Join us for the MBK Chicago Southwest/Latino Regional Meeting as organizations, leaders, and community partners come together to strengthen safe spaces across our neighborhoods.
📍Theme: Strong Communities through Safe Spaces
Equipping partners with best practices, resources, and tools to create safe, vibrant public spaces.
🎙️ Featured Speaker: Robert Castaneda, Executive Director of Beyond the Ball
🗓️ Thursday, May 21 ⏰ 1:00–2:30 PM
🏫 New Life Centers | 2657 S Lawndale Ave, Chicago, IL 60623
🔗 Register today: newlifecenters.org/mbkmay
Together, we can continue building safer and stronger communities across Chicago.
Good evening everybody. We want to invite you all to our Project Play event this Friday. Kick off your Mother’s Day weekend in celebration with us. We’ll have mariachi, taquiza, games, flowers and a movie. Bring the whole family. Hope to see you all there! 🌺 🎻💕
Buenas tardes a todos. Queremos invitarlos a nuestro evento de Project Play este viernes. Empiece el fin de semana de Día de las Madres en celebración con nosotros. Tendremos mariachi, taquiza, juegos, flores y una película. Traigan a toda la familia. ¡Esperamos verlos ahí! 🌺🎻💕
Calling all community leaders, neighbors, educators, and partners across Chicago.
Join us for the MBK Chicago Southwest/Latino Regional Meeting — a space to connect, align, and move forward together.
📍 Topic: Strong Communities through Safe Spaces
Equipping partners with best practices, resources, and tools to create safe, vibrant public spaces.
🎙️ Workshop Speaker: Robert Castaneda Executive Director, Beyond the Ball
🗓️ Thursday, May 21
⏰ 1:00–2:30 PM
🏫 New Life Centers | 2657 S Lawndale Ave, Chicago, IL 60623
🔗 Register now: newlifecenters.org/mbkmay
Let’s keep building stronger communities across Chicago.
Join us as we imagine the future of 26th & Kostner together! Help us design a new public space for our community. This is a family-friendly event that invites neighbors to walk the site, share ideas, and shape a new space in Little Village. Activities will kick off at 2:00 PM and continue through 4:00 PM, stop by anytime!
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Acompáñanos a imaginar juntos el futuro de 26th y Kostner. Ayúdanos a diseñar un nuevo espacio público para nuestra comunidad. Este evento familiar invita a los vecinos a recorrer el sitio, compartir ideas y dar forma a un nuevo espacio en La Villita. Las actividades comenzarán a las 2:00 PM y continuarán hasta las 4:00 PM, puedes llegar en cualquier momento.
Join us as we imagine the future of 26th & Kostner together! Help us design a new public space for our community. This is a family-friendly event that invites neighbors to walk the site, share ideas, and shape a new space in Little Village. Activities will kick off at 2:00 PM and continue through 4:00 PM, stop by anytime!
Acompáñanos a imaginar juntos el futuro de 26th y Kostner. Ayúdanos a diseñar un nuevo espacio público para nuestra comunidad. Este evento familiar invita a los vecinos a recorrer el sitio, compartir ideas y dar forma a un nuevo espacio en La Villita. Las actividades comenzarán a las 2:00 PM y continuarán hasta las 4:00 PM, puedes llegar en cualquier momento.
Learn more about the project at
The top players in our NSLV basketball league shared the same court last week in Little Village for the All-Star Games.💥🌟
Boys and girls from different teams settled in fast. The game opened up early, but what stood out was how they played off each other. Players called for the ball with confidence and stepped in when a play broke down. The trust showed up in real time, in the extra pass, in the help. You could see it in how they stayed connected from one possession to the next. ⛹️♂️⛹️♀️
They’ve seen each other all season, but it played out differently on the court. New combinations formed on the fly. Quick reads clicked, and plays started to connect on both ends. For the night, they moved like one group, finding rhythm as the game unfolded. 🎉🏀
We closed the night with time to hang out and talk off the court. Groups stayed together, and conversations stretched. No one seemed in a hurry to leave. We’re grateful to @beyondtheball for continuing to show up for the community and create spaces like this for young people. 🤝
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Los jugadores más destacados de nuestra liga de básquetbol (NSLV) se reunieron la semana pasada en La Villita para la noche del Juego de las Estrellas.💥🌟
Aunque los chicos y chicas ya se conocían de toda la temporada, cada uno desde su equipo, se acoplaron ápidamente. Desde los primeros minutos el ritmo fue alto, pero lo que realmente destacó fue cómo se entendieron en cada jugada. Pidieron el balón con confianza, respondieron cuando el juego lo exigía y mantuvieron esa conexión hasta el final. ⛹️♂️⛹️♀️
Con el cierre de la liga, también abrimos un espacio para compartir fuera del juego y seguir fortaleciendo esos vínculos. Agradecemos a Beyond the Ball por su presencia constante y por hacer posibles estos espacios para los jóvenes. 🤝
There’s a lot to be proud of from this season. 🏀⛹️♀️⛹🏽♂️
Our 4th–6th and 7th–8th grade teams competed the right way all year in the NSLV basketball league with Beyond the Ball. You could see it on the court in how they stayed connected, backed each other on every possession, and stayed steady when the game got tough. That approach carried the 4th–6th team to a runner-up finish and pushed the 7th–8th team to a championship. 🥇🏆
At Neighborhood Sports Little Village, this is the kind of growth we care about. Players learning to trust each other, staying disciplined, and showing up for their team every time they step on the court. This group did that all season. 🎯🙌🏽
They represented themselves well. More than that, they’re building something that holds up every time they play. 👏🏽
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Hay muchas razones para sentirnos orgullosos esta temporada. 🏀⛹️♀️⛹🏽♂️
Nuestros equipos de 4.º–6.º y 7.º–8.º grado compitieron muy bien en estos dos últimos meses en la liga NSLV promovida por Beyond the Ball. Cada impulso se notó en la cancha, había unidad, respaldo y calma aun en los momentos difíciles. Esto llevó a los chicos de 4.º–6.º al subcampeonato y a los de 7.º–8.º al campeonato. 🥇🏆
En Neighborhood Sports Little Village (NSLV), esto es lo que buscamos: jóvenes que confían en sí mismos y entre ellos, que se mantengan enfocados y respondan a su equipo cada vez que pisan la cancha, y estos dos grupos lo hicieron muy bien esta temporada. 🎯🙌🏽
Cada grupo de chicos se representó excelentemente y se ve que van construyendo su identidad cada vez que juegan. 👏🏽
Huge thank you to the @chicagobulls@bullscommunity and @robwitdashifts for inviting our youth out to an unforgettable basketball clinic last night. We were able to take some of our 4th-8th grade basketball players who had an amazing time learning, hooping, and being inspired. Moments like these remind our kids how far hard work and community support can take them. #ChicagoBulls #YouthSports #LittleVillage #BasketballCommunity #BeyondTheBall
Basketball season is heading into the playoffs in Little Village, and you can feel the focus in the gym. Warmups are sharper. Coaches pull players aside for quick corrections as the pace picks up.
The discipline you see now has been built week after week through Beyond the Ball, part of Neighborhood Sports Little Village (NSLV). As teams prepare for the playoffs and the All-Star Game, it shows in how they handle pressure. A missed shot or a tough call doesn’t unravel them. They reset and keep moving.
In this gym, young people aren’t just playing for a win. They’re learning how to show up for each other and stay steady when the game tightens.
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La temporada de baloncesto se acerca a los playoffs en La Villita, y se puede sentir la concentración en la cancha. Los calentamientos son más intensos y los entrenadores apartan a los jugadores para hacer correcciones rápidas a medida que el ritmo aumenta.
Esta liga se ha venido desarrollando semana tras semana gracias a Beyond the Ball para fortalecer la iniciativa del deporte comunitario en La Villita. Mientras los equipos se preparan para los playoffs y el Juego de las Estrellas, se nota cómo manejan la presión. Un tiro fallado o una decisión difícil no los hace fracasar. Se reinician y siguen adelante.
En este gimnasio, los jóvenes no solo juegan para ganar, también están aprendiendo a apoyarse mutuamente y a mantenerse firmes cuando el partido se pone tenso.
Good evening everybody. We hope your year is off to an amazing start. We want to invite you all to our Project Play this Friday 2/13. Join us for some food, games, music and art. Hope to see you all there! 🩷🫔⚽️
Buenas noches a todos. Esperamos que su año comienzo de manera increíble. Queremos invitarlos todos a nuestro evento de Project Play este viernes 2/13. Acompáñenos a disfrutar de buena comida, juegos, música, y arte. ¡Esperamos verlos todos ahí! 🩷🫔⚽️
💪🏀 Thursday night, three New Life Centers teams hit the court to start an 8-week league with our friends at Beyond the Ball. You could see their training show up in every play. They pushed themselves, backed each other up, and kept fighting for every possession. ⛹️♂️⛹️♀️
This league is just getting started, and so are they. Grateful for our players, our partners, and our staff for turning a simple game into a place where our youth show up for each other, grow their confidence, and carry what they learn here into everyday life. 💚
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El pasado jueves por la noche, tres equipos de New Life Centers salieron a la cancha para iniciar una liga de 8 semanas contra nuestros amigos de Beyond the Ball. Se podía ver el resultado de su entrenamiento en cada jugada. Se esforzaron al máximo, se apoyaron mutuamente y lucharon como equipo para la posesión del balón en cada jugada.
Esta liga apenas comienza, y ellos también. Estamos muy agradecidos con nuestros jugadores, con nuestro socio Beyond the Ball y a nuestro staff, por hacer del deporte un espacio real donde nuestros jóvenes crecen, desarrollan confianza y aplican estas lecciones a la vida cotidiana. 💚
