On Sunday, Aug. 22, the Keich Family Legacy, a non-profit organization based in the Lehigh Valley, held a free inaugural event for its program which focuses on empowering children through basketball. Over 40 kids ages 9-13 attended the event, held at the Lower Macungie Community Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The organization’s goal is to help teach kids “life after basketball” according to its co-founder, Katie Keich. 

“Our mission is to help kids understand life after basketball has happened, [either] from an injury [or] not playing in college,” Keich said. “We’re focused on bringing financial literacy, business development, [and] business acumen, coupled with their training and helping them to understand and plan for life after basketball.”

Keich played varsity basketball all four years of high school, until an injury limited her ability to keep playing. This event ultimately inspired her to start the Keich Family Legacy, in an effort to combat the internal struggles she faced after her injury.

“[My injuries] made me figure out life after basketball very quickly, and nobody was talking about it. I turned to business and became a very successful entrepreneur, and I’ve done my impact in the business world and now I want to make an impact in the social [world],” Keich said. 

Allentown Central Catholic’s assistant varsity basketball coach, Brandon Lister, helped facilitate the event, leading the kids in basketball drills for most of the time, with help from several volunteers. The volunteers worked with both individual players and small groups, practicing both dribbling and shooting techniques.

“I met Katie [Keich] through a mutual friend, and they both seem passionate about helping kids get better, which ultimately led me here,” Lister said. Lister added that he wanted to help the kids in the program with anything they needed, but more specifically “just being competent with a basketball.”

Keich, who created the organization along with her husband, Larry Keich, believes that basketball is overall a “vehicle” for success in school and life. She plans to help kids further develop their basketball abilities at future events, in addition to teaching them life skills like budgeting and  forecasting, which means applying past data patterns to predict and determine future investments. Dates have not yet been announced for the rest of the program, but Keich reaffirmed that “a lot more is yet to come.”