Alcona youth pastor holds three on three basketball tournament to keep local kids engaged

ALCONA, MICH — A local youth pastor is making a wave, or rather a swish in Alcona, bringing a three on three basketball tournament to the area.

Youth pastor of Solid Rock Church of God, Lenny Avery, says through the support of his church and the MATRIX program, he is giving Alcona kids something to look forward to.

“MATRIX is our youth program, that’s the name of the program, and it stands for ‘minds altered by truth, redemption, identity with excellence.’ So the MATRIX youth program is sponsoring a three on three tournament today. It’s a brainchild of my wife. My wife loves basketball and I do too as well, but shouts out to my wife, Kyla. But she put this event together, it’s her second year. We have over 32 teams.”

Avery says with a lack of resources in the community, it’s critical to provide positive opportunities where students can thrive.

“There’s not a lot of opportunities for kids to kind of do something in this county. Alcona county is one of the five poorest in Michigan, and anything that we can do, reaching out to our community to provide low cost to free events, that’s the vision of this ministry – is to give back and reach back to our community to provide positive opportunities for kids.”

Avery says you don’t have to be a member of MATRIX to join in the fun. The ministry is just dedicated to serving the community anyway it can.

For more information,visit MATRIX Youth on Facebook.