Media

Beyond the Ball has been the subject of specialty magazines, touted by funders, and featured on public radio. We also create some media of our own to document and show highlights of our events. You can find a variety of media via the links below.

The Chicago Sun-Times recently ran the story of the gang-banger who threatened the lives of our founders, but has now come full circle and has his daughter in Beyond the Ball Programs
“The Latin Kings in Little Village wanted to kill Robert and Amy Castañeda. Thugs ruling the corner of 30th and Drake twice tried to burn down their house — soaking the porch with gasoline and setting it ablaze while the young couple slept inside — because Rob had called the police after a shooting and showed investigators where gang-bangers had stashed the gun.”

Read the entire Chicago Sun-Times piece here. It tells the story of how one man and his gang-bangers’ murderous threats actually set in motion the creation of Beyond the Ball. A decade later and now out of jail, that man hopes for a better future for his children, and believes one way that will happen is by involving them in Beyond the Ball. An amazing story.

More recently, Beyond the Ball was mentioned on the by Claude Johnson, speaking about the history of the Black Fives basketball team, on the Brian Lehrer show. Give it a listen here.