UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - Discipline, sportsmanship and respect - all things that the organizer of a new basketball league in West Utica hopes to teach the kids.

Anthony Spratt recently formed the Westside Village Summer League.

60 kids are already taking part, and games take place on Wednesdays and Saturday at Donovan Park for kids ages 9 to 15.

The goal of the league is to get kids off the streets and on to the basketball court.

"All these kids have potential, but if they have nowhere to go, then they ain't gonna' show no potential and they are going to fail and I don't like kids to fail," said Anthony Spratt, organizer of the league. "Give them something positive. The best gift you can give a child is roots and wings, you know? Root them and they grow with that."

The league also has a female coach and an all-girls team.

Anyone interested in joining the league or making a donation can do so when the team gets together in Donovan Park on Noyes Street on Wednesdays or Saturdays.

"This is a hard thing to do if you don't got no help," Spratt said. "It takes a community to raise a child and that's what I'm asking. If you could donate water and t-shirts, it's our main objective right now."