A Fight Against the Odds: Life Growing Up in Jersey City and Playing Basketball for the Legendary Coach Bob Hurley

In Jersey City, it seemed like there was always one thing guaranteed to find you: trouble. Even when you tried your best to stay away from it, somehow trouble always found its way to you. This is an inspiring story about seven kids from the streets of Jersey City that were inseparable. Seven kids who stuck together no matter what came their way. The love for basketball brought them all together, giving them a reason to fight for more. Ultimately, they all followed different paths, but the bond they developed seemed to be everlasting. In A Fight Against The Odds, Shelton T. Gibbs will cover the struggles the seven had coming from the jagged areas of Jersey City and playing basketball for a very high demanding Coach Bob Hurley. In the streets there was drugs, alcohol, prostitution, fighting, and gun violence. Yet, in Coach Hurley’s gym there was a basketball court, Coach Hurley, and his high demanding expectations for perfection. With no room for the streets to carry over into Coach Hurley’s gym, the crew had to juggle between following the right path or being sucked into the negativity that surrounded them. Basketball made the decision easier for some, while others couldn’t handle the adversity of dealing with the hardship from the streets and those very high demands from the Legendary Coach Bob Hurley.