Thousands of Philadelphia children and teenagers have a safe place to play basketball after school, take in classes, and enjoy summer camp, thanks to Mt. Airy’s Kenny Holdsman and Germantown’s Eric Worley. Holdsman founded Philadelphia Youth Basketball (PYB), while co-founder Worley is vice-president of basketball operations.

PYB, a 10-year-old nonprofit community organization, is the creator, owner, and operator of the massive Alan Horwitz “Sixth Man” Center at 4250 Wissahickon Ave. — a former chair-making factory — in the city’s Nicetown section. The PYB team specifically chose Nicetown for the needs of its residents and proximity to public transportation.

The Sixth Man

Alan Horwitz, for whom the center was named, is a “76ers Super Fan” who attends every Philadelphia 76ers game wearing a team jersey emblazoned with the slogan “#76 SIXTH MAN.” The founder and chairman of Campus Apartments, which provides student housing in many parts of the country, Horwitz donated $5 million to the center. The largest gift the center received was $8.5 million, which State Sen.Vincent Hughes obtained through state funding.

The 100,000-square-foot center, referred to by PYB as “A Center for Community Empowerment” opened in June 2024. The center’s programming is primarily aimed at 4- to 18-year-olds.

On Aug. 25, Holdsman, PYB’s CEO, told the Local, “In the last 90 days, 94,000 people came to the center, not just for basketball but also for academics, intellectual growth, social and emotional growth, and vocational and pre-career help. This is our answer to what can be done for young people, particularly those in the inner city. Over 2,500 people contributed to our capital fundraising campaign. Our goal was $45 million, and we’ve raised $42 million so far. And most contributors were not the civic elites.”

Before creating PYB with Worley, Holdsman served as president of Legacy Youth Tennis and Education (formerly Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education) from February 2009 to June 2015. In 2007, Holdsman met Worley, who was running a basketball organization called Philly Triple Threat. Worley was an All-Public basketball player at Central High School and a star at West Chester University, where he is now in the school’s Hall of Fame. Before starting PYB with Holdsman, he taught at the West Oak Lane Charter School and Pickett Middle School, and was principal of Hope Charter School.

Holdsman grew up in Elkins Park, played four sports at Cheltenham High School, and was a college rugby player at Lehigh University, where he received a B.S. in economics in 1989. After working as legislative director for U.S. Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D-N.J.) in Washington, D.C., Holdsman graduated from Temple University Law School in 1996 and worked for the Ballard Spahr firm but only practiced law for 19 months.

“I was not happy,” he said, “but Ballard Spahr has done a lot of pro bono work for us here.”

‘Price is never a barrier’

According to Holdsman, “Eric told me that many youth organizations are centered around tennis, squash, and rowing; in other words, affluent kids’ sports. He said we need a center for basketball and off-the-court activities for kids, so we got together after 2014 and wrote a concept proposal for all the things you see here.”

Worley said, “We have an eight-week summer camp here, where we serve 150-175 kids every week and the program is free. Other programs may have a modest fee, but price is never a barrier. We are mission driven, and we do not exclude anybody. It costs us $9 million a year to operate the center. Two-thirds is covered by private philanthropy, and the rest is earned money, like sales of clothing and public sector support.”

After a two-and-a-half year renovation, the site now contains four classrooms, seven basketball courts, a financial literacy workshop, a “healthy foods cafe,” a strength and conditioning gym, and a museum of Philadelphia basketball history and culture, among other features. “About 75 high school kids have paid jobs here year round,” Holdsman said. “We serve over 2,000 kids 4-18 and have programming in 24 schools in addition to the programs here. There is way more than basketball here. We have had anti-violence rallies, for example.”

Phase two

Next year, PYB will begin phase two of the complex. Adjacent to the “Sixth Man Center,” it will be aimed at 19- to 29-year-olds and will focus on workforce development, entrepreneurship, and economic opportunity.

“The addition will be another 30,000 to 40,000 square feet. We have a civic dialogue arena, sponsored by Amy and Michael Cohen, who live in Mt. Airy,” Holdsman said. The arena was designed by Voith MacTavish Architects. The principal and owner of the firm, Daniella Voith, is a graduate of Germantown Friends School.

Holdsman continued. “Many people in the community thought we had eyes too big for our stomachs. So when Alan Horwitz made his pledge of $5 million, that was a catalyst that made people believe we could actually deliver on this big dream. Our contributions have come from 150 zip codes, but I have lived in Mt. Airy for 27 years, and everything I loved about growing up in Cheltenham has been even more true about Mt. Airy. It is a caring community with a lot of civic activism. There is a wide range of diversity in race, religion and economics, affordability, and access to the Wissahickon. And Mt. Airy has a lot of people who really care about the city and making it more equitable for folks with less abundance.”

For more information, call 267-519-9209 or visit phillyyouthbasketball.org.

Len Lear can be reached at LenLear@chestnuthilllocal.com.