Since its inception in 2015, Kyle Umemba has turned the Let It Fly Classic into a summer basketball fixture in Boston.
AJ Dybantsa and the late Terrence Clarke are among the names who have participated in the event that now attracts some of the best talent in the region for a fun and competitive tournament at Chelsea High School. Umemba, a former player at Buckingham, Browne & Nichols, partnered with his friend Cesar Castro, a former Chelsea High standout and now the program’s head coach, to give back to the community with the event. And the two have continued to look for ways to grow it.
They did that this year, by expanding their tournament to South Africa and London in June and July, respectively. But Umemba had always wanted to find a way to add a development piece for the star-studded talent that they bring in. He markets Let It Fly as streetball-style basketball that can get intense, but he believes it’s crucial to hone in on players’ skills, especially in this age of social media where he thinks it’s getting overlooked.
“It can still be fun, but developing is the key to unleashing the players’ real capabilities,” Umemba said.
