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A PATHWAY TO A PRODUCTIVE FUTURE

Ten years ago, advertising executive Louis d'Almeida bought a set of uniforms for a Harlem YMCA basketball team as a favor for a friend. He went to see the kids play the first time they wore the uniforms, and before he knew it, he was hooked.

Mr. d'Almeida became the coach of the team, which he christened the "Gauchos," after the cowboys of his native Argentina.

"Gauchos," he explained, "are the heroes of the pampas. They prevail in their environment.

Thanks in large part to the enthusiasm and intense concern of Louis d'Almeida, the Gauchos of New York City, ranging in age from 9 to 19, prevail in their environment: the housing projects and streets of Harlem and the South and East Bronx. Over the years, the single team has multiplied into a full league involving more than 500 boys.

The Gauchos, still coached by d'Almeida and two assistant coaches, are highly skilled and talented basketball players who have won over 25 city championships and have defeated the junior varsities of Yale, West Point and Annapolis.

There is one iron-clad rule that "Louie," as the kids call their coach, enforces without exception: in order to remain at Gaucho, a boy must stay in school. If trouble is brewing in school for an individual Gaucho, d'Almeida goes to the school to personally meet with the teacher or principal and delve to the root of the problem, which often has to do with an unstable home life.

Thanks to the insistence on continued school attendance, the majority of the Gauchos-more than 100-have gone on to college, many of them on basketball scholarships. An equally positive factor is the pride that the young men have developed in themselves and their achievements in connection with the Gauchos. They no longer feel that they are nonentities, as a Gaucho they are somebody. To be a Gaucho is a point of pride in the community, a magic word to all aspiring basketball players.

Louis d'Almeida used to ask his friend, Mrs. Edgar Bronfman, if he could borrow her station wagon on the weekends. When she asked "why?," he informed her that he was using it to transport the Gauchos to their games and invited her to come and see one. She went, and she too, was hooked. She arranged for the Gauchos to get their own Ford van and founded the Gaucho Basketball Fund for the purpose of establishing a permanent home for the Gauchos and expanding the program to service thousands of children-boys and girls. Mrs. Bronfman has become the tireless inspiration behind the Gaucho Basketball Fund, and spends enormous amounts of her time working to make the new center a reality in the near future.

"When I saw what the Gauchos were doing for hundreds of children," says Mrs. Bronfman, "I thought-why not do it for thousands? Some day we hope to have centers in all the boroughs of New York and in other inner cities as well."

The Gauchos, guided by people who care, have truly created a pathway to a productive future for the young men who have been fortunate enough to be a part of the Gaucho experience.

Community leaders like Vernon Jordan Jr. of the Urban League, say of the Gauchos, "the program has earned the faith and respect of many young people and has earned mine as well."

With the concern and active involvement of more people who care, the Gaucho program can, and will give a shot at a life of productivity and potential success to thousands of youths across the country.

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