Rockford Police Department coaches teens

COURTESY PHOTO The Journal
Tenoah Tatum (far right) is another success story from the program.

For the last 15 years, we’ve partnered with AAU to sponsor a teen basketball program, coached by Detective Joe Danforth. The program has impacted the lives of at least 100 kids throughout the years. Julius Coates, a Guilford High School grad, participated in the program in middle school and high school. Julius went on to East Mississippi Community College to play football and just committed last month to continue his football career at Arkansas.

Tenoah Tatum is another success story from the program. After playing with the AAU team throughout middle and high school and graduating from Auburn High School, Tenoah (far right) received a full basketball scholarship to Governors State University, but left after one year to join the Military. He is currently serving in Iraq.

“These two men are the perfect example of how the sponsorship with the Rockford Five-0 Program works,” explains Danforth. “These guys didn’t have a problem saying they were sponsored by the police department, and their coach was a policeman. It creates positive relationships with teens and benefits the teens as well. It’s a win-win.”

The Rockford Five-O basketball program is a non-profit organization backed by Fred VanVleet, the Rockford Police Department and the Rockford Illinois Police Officers Association PB&PA Unit 6.