Several teenagers who play basketball under the guidance of Cory McGee’s ‘Breakfast Club Cayman Islands’ have now found confidence in their appearance and abilities through the sport. However, it wasn’t always like that.
“They called me all kind of names like porky, double chin and it really made me feel bad,” 16-year-old Jahiem White told the Cayman Compass. “I felt like I was helpless, and I kept getting picked on.”
White, who has been training with the Breakfast Club for the last two years, lost over 80 pounds through the programme. He said the sport has given him new ambition and brought positive people into his life.
“I’d like to make a career out of basketball,” he said. “My teammates are very supportive, and they push me a lot to do better.”
Several of White’s teammates also shared the struggles they faced coming through the school system but noted that they were “proud” of themselves, while one said, “I used to tell myself [to] quit but I don’t tell myself that anymore.”
In the most recent Student Drug Use Survey conducted by the National Drug Council in 2020, more than half (55.1%) of the students attending schools in the Cayman Islands reported they had been bullied.
Dr. Erica Lam, consultant clinical psychologist at the Alex Panton Foundation spoke to the Compass about the mental health and neuroscience behind sports and how a support system is beneficial to victims of bullying. The mission of the foundation is to improve the mental health of children and young adults.
She said, “In an environment that is nurtured and coached by safe adults, you’re giving the limbic system (involved in behaviour and emotion, among other functions), which is the middle part of the brain, that sense of safety, that sense of belongingness, that sense of ‘I got this, I can perform well… I can score the goal and my team will be celebrating my success’ and that’s how beautiful team sport actually is for traumatised young people.”
McGee, who has focussed on giving back to young people, has seen many students like White grow under his programme, telling the Compass that with consistency, dreams can be achieved.
“It’s about giving them the tools to be successful; it’s about giving them a pathway to understand things for their benefit,” he said. “They were bullied, and these kids have lost a significant amount of weight and it’s life-changing.” Their hard work and determination are to be applauded, he said. “I’m very proud, and their families are proud.”
McGee added, “I see these kids six, seven days a week, and the Breakfast Club is serious, my engagement with these kids is serious. Through that, there’s a lot of consistency… we set goals, in terms of where [they] started and where [they] are now. They want to be dedicated to this; I’m going to be dedicated to them during the process.”
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