Ronan Park is a busy place this summer, thanks to partners who have teamed up to program basketball and flag football games on the courts and playing fields of this scenic, hilltop city space nestled between Bowdoin-Geneva and Fields Corner.

Dubbed “Ronan After Dark,” the organizers include The Hoop Collaborative, Beantown Slam, the Cape Verdean Association of Boston, and St. Peter’s Teen Center, with assistance from the City of Boston’s Community Service Team.

This is the second summer for the Ronan After Dark crew, who came together last year to set programs for the park after violent incidents in earlier years had prompted a period of relative inactivity.

Mitch Hercules of The Hoop Collaborative and Kamilah Washington of Diverse Drip clothing. Washington is helping to try to improve the conditions at the courts and to get a mural painted on the retaining wall.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” said Mitch Hercules of Hoop Collaborative, “because when you drive or walk by here and we’re not here, nobody is here. When we come for Ronan After Dark, you see the positive things that are happening. We want everyone to know it’s a safe environment. We need some fixes to the courts and facilities, but it’s a consistent program with good referees.”

The program includes basketball on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with flag football on Wednesdays – each going from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. They offer basketball leagues for 11 and under, 15 and under, and high school age. Anyone can show up to hang out, or to train with coaches, but most of the league has teams that are already set up. Kids as young as five are invited to work in skill sessions with instructors as well.

Last Thursday evening, players of all ages gathered while youngsters played on a bounce house and volunteers worked the grill with hamburgers and hot dogs – all for free. Community vendors sold goods on the edges of the courts while middle school and high school basketball played on center stage.

BPD officer Manny Andrade guards Transit’s Andrew White.

The highlight of the night was an intense “braggin’ rights” game between the Boston Police basketball team and the Transit Police basketball team, squads whose rosters included players who grew up around Ronan Park. While DJ Armani played the music, a close game unfolded, with Transit pulling away in the end, 45-34, behind strong play from Andrew White, who delivered a couple of circus-style layups down the stretch [while getting fouled] that drew noise from the crowds. A rematch is expected.

BPD coach (and deputy superintendent) Nora Baston, who runs the Police Academy, said it was a blessing to be invited to play at Ronan After Dark by the organizers. She sees the program as a way to get closer with the community and not be seen only as officers driving by in a cruiser.
“Nugget,” an organizer with the Beantown Slam group, is excited about last year’s success and hopes it can bring Ronan Park back to the kind of sports centerpiece that it was as he was growing up – when summer basketball was best played at Ronan.

If early results from last week are any indicator, that hope is a perfect swish.