Millville youth basketball event tackles abuse awareness and self-worth

Silver Run Elementary School in Millville became more than a gym for one afternoon. The Lady Royalty Showcase and Pep Rally on Tuesday, May 26, used basketball and cheerleading to open a conversation about domestic violence, sexual abuse, self-worth and safety for young girls.

The event brought together 16 girls in the basketball program, another 20 in the cheer division, and their families inside an elementary school setting that already carries a message of care. Silver Run says its school family pledges to be a safe, caring community where students can learn and grow together, and that made the gym a fitting place for an early-intervention effort built around children already comfortable in a familiar space.

The program, led by founder JT Burks and Positive Vibes Community Group, began like a sports clinic and then widened into a harder conversation. Music from a DJ and a public-address introduction of the players gave the day a pep-rally feel, but the most powerful moment came when a local advocate shared a firsthand account of growing up with an abusive father who later went to prison. The reaction from the players and families underscored why the message was aimed at girls early, before fear and silence can take hold. Burks said the Lady Royalty name reflects a goal of developing the girls as “young queens.”

Positive Vibes was born from Burks’ own difficult upbringing in Cumberland County, and he has long framed sports as a way to reach children with something more than drills and scores. In 2020, he said the group had about 60 adults and kids involved in Millville and the surrounding area. By 2021, Positive Vibes said more than 400 people attended its fifth annual Players vs. Drugs, Guns and Gangs event. The organization now says it serves Cumberland County, Gloucester County and Salem County.

That broader reach fits a countywide prevention network already in place. Positive Vibes has partnered with Millville PAL and the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office to reach youth “not only in sport, but in life,” and the Cumberland County Positive Youth Development Coalition, founded in 2009, describes itself as New Jersey’s first countywide juvenile delinquency prevention effort. CCPYDC says it now includes 150 members from 85 organizations. In that context, the Millville event stood out as a practical model: use a familiar school gym, bring families together, and make room for a message about protection before abuse ever becomes an unspoken part of a child’s life.