Centennial's Play It Smart program is looking for 160 energetic kids who want to learn some basketball skills and brush up on their math and English studies, too.

The free community outreach program offers a mix of school tutoring, as well as some basketball instruction and house league play on a professional court. The 20-week program, which will take place every Saturday morning between September 25 and next April, is recruiting Scarborough children between the ages of 7 and 13. Each Saturday, participants will receive tutoring in a subject they need help in, then the instruction moves onto the hardwood for basketball.

Centennial would like to draw kids from the Malvern neighbourhood in northeast Scarborough, with a special emphasis on boys and girls in grades 7 and 8. The youth will be bused from the Malvern Town Centre to Ashtonbee Campus at no cost.

"The Centennial College Student Association provided our volunteer mentors and they did a fantastic job," says School of Business professor Vern Kennedy, who is organizing the program. "I can't say enough about the creativity and commitment shown by our own college students, who gave up 20 mornings to work with these kids." Introducing youngsters to college now will help them feel less intimidated by post-secondary education in the future, he adds.

For more details and to register a child in this free community program, please visit www.centennialcollege.ca/playitsmart or call 416-289-5000, ext. 3273.