TRANSCRIPT:
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Luis Hernandez: It’s been nearly 30 years since the demise of the North Providence Summer Basketball League. It started as a pickup league for local kids in the early 60s and rapidly grew into one of the most popular in the region. A new documentary in development, called “Meet Me at the Court,” tells the story of the league with the help of the men who started it in the midst of the civil rights movement. Here to talk about it is the film’s director, Evan Villari, director of the Center for Media Production and professor at Johnson and Wales University. Evan, thanks so much for coming in.
Evan Villari: Thank you so much, Luis.
Hernandez: Also joining me is Len Cabral, artistic director of Providence Inner City Arts, the film’s narrator, and a former player in the league. Len, it’s such a pleasure. Thank you.
Len Cabral: You’re welcome very much. It’s a pleasure for us to be here.
Hernandez: This story sounds so fascinating. And Len, I was just curious, because you played in the league. What was your experience like? How would you describe it to people who’d never got to see it?
Cabral: Well, the league was formed by teenagers mostly. Dave Turbridy and his brother Bob Turbridy were the founders of the league. If you could play, you wanted to play there. First of all, people would come up, young players would come up from Manton Avenue, from Smith Hill, Charles Street, from different parts of North Providence, Marieville, or Woodville would play on this court. And the word spread that this was the place that some really good ballplaying was going on. And before you know it, we had teams coming from Roxbury, Mass., from New Bedford, Mass., from New Haven. The word just spread, and that bouncing basketball, that sound of bouncing basketball, it travels.
Villari: Not many people outside of Rhode Island know about the court and its legacy for over 30 years. We date the league as 1962 and it did start as a pickup-style league where a group of friends were coming together and they wanted to continue to play throughout the day, especially in the summer. So when they petitioned the town to install lights, they could now play longer. And as a result of those lights, it wasn’t just attractive to those kids who had started; it then became attractive to players outside of the North Providence community. Players from Hope, Tommy Cannon was an early person to come. Tom Cannon is the individual who really was responsible for catapulting the league from just a small neighborhood court to a New England destination. So what we’re fascinated by is the fact that, with all this work and all these volunteered hours, it really grew into something.
Cabral: Right. And over 25 of the players on that court went into the NBA.
Hernandez: Evan, when and where did the idea for the documentary come from?
Villari: So unlike my last projects, this actually wasn’t something that grew from my own desire to tell another story. I was actually approached by Len and his creative partners at Providence Center City Arts, Lou Viola, Ali Cabral, Glen DiValerio, Jim Cuddy. They said, “Hey, we were a part of something.” I had just finished work on my last film, “Blood and Watershed,” which was about our public water supply, and I was looking for something new. The more that I met with these guys and started finding out little kernels of information, the more I realized that this really had legs and this was bigger than just a small little community court.
Hernandez: You’re still making the film right now. As of this conversation, where are you in the process? What is it you’re gathering? What is it you need?
Villari: Yeah, so we currently are in pre-production, which means we are looking to really spread the word. Archival materials to visually tell the story are really important so, unlike this medium here of sound, we can talk all we want about all the players but in terms of the research that I’m trying to do and the story that we’re trying to tell, we want to definitely confirm that folks were there and so we’re looking for home movies. We’re looking for maybe Polaroids and old photographs that people might have taken. We’re making progress as the story continues to develop and people continue to say, “Oh, I was there” or “I played there.”
Hernandez: This started, again, in the 60s in the middle of the civil rights movement. Was the segregation an issue?
Cabral: Well, I’ll tell you this. If you could play, you played.
Hernandez: So it didn’t matter.
Cabral: It didn’t matter. It’s just a coming of age story. You know, we were teenagers and we were learning to get along with one another on the basketball court. So we had people from different walks of life, different ethnic groups playing. And if you were good enough, you played. There are two people that the court is named after. Herbie [Swenson] was about 14 years old. He was destined to be an NBA ballplayer at that age. And tragically, he drowned in the early summer. And it was the first time that kids our age – 15, 16 years old – died. Usually it was a grandparent or somebody old, but when a young person our age died, it was a shock. And then a year or so after that, another young person from North Providence, from that community, died tragically. So the court became known as the Herbie [Swenson and] Chuckie Ruggerio Memorial Basketball Court[s]. That was really tragic, but it really pulled a lot of us together. When we get together now, we talk about that.
Hernandez: I’d imagine that, Evan, as you put this movie together, one of the things that’ll come up is, if it was so successful and had so much rich history, why did it end?
Villari: What Len and I like to say is, well, you’re gonna have to tune in and watch the film. To Len’s point, there’s also an element, not just the culture on the court, there’s also the culture that existed off the court. That, to me, is as interesting as the high level of play that was occurring over the course of 32 years. And so the film is going to sort of tell that story. It’s an intersection of not only sports, but of American history and really of race dynamics. So that is really fascinating to me. But how did it end? Well, I think all good things come to an end for a reason. As we continue to unearth documentation, we’re hoping that we can share how the league came to such a sudden end.
Hernandez: Briefly from both of you, I want to hear what, what do you think will be the legacy of the North Providence Summer Basketball League?
Villari: So, the legacy of the league is something very small, something very personal to many folks. We have over a thousand confirmed players that played on the court or in the league. That idea of something that happened for a long period of time can actually impact and bring emotion and engage in thought and discussion outside of those that were there.
Cabral: The friendship that was developed playing basketball, through all sports, but playing in that particular league at that time. People were just getting to know one another, especially when we had more people of color coming up and playing in the league. It was just an awakening, and it led us right into that turbulent time with Vietnam. I can’t say it enough, it’s a real coming of age story for a small community that affected many of us. I want to get the story out. I don’t know, it’ll make us all think about supporting other sports and supporting youth sports right here in Rhode Island, you know, from swimming pools, from playgrounds. That’s when you really develop and you learn to get along with someone. Playing sports, you learn to give and take. You learn to take a bump and give it, and you learn to shake hands after. And that’s what we need to do. We need to shake hands after.
Hernandez: Evan Vallari and Len Cabral, two of the collaborators on the upcoming documentary in progress, “Meet Me at the Court,” which tells the story of the North Providence Summer Basketball League. Evan, Len, I really appreciate it. Thanks so much for sharing so many stories.
Cabral: You’re welcome, very much.
Villari: Thank you, Luis.
