Players, coaches, family and friends gathered recently in the Putnam Avenue Upper School gymnasium to celebrate an addition to the Cambridge Basketball Lab: a new shooting machine.
Jai’Lyse Gomes-Keel, a Cambridge Rindge and Latin School freshman, gripped a pair of abnormally large scissors and snipped through a red ribbon at last week’s ceremony, a symbolic moment that marked an upgrade to the basketball program’s training facilities and a new sense of hope for the program.
The machine can automatically rebound and return balls to players, track shooting and simulate game-speed passing, features that the lab didn’t have. The upgrade will allow players to get extra reps per session and improve individual skill work without requiring multiple staff members.
The shooting machine – which cost several thousand dollars, according to lab founder Matthew Meyersohn – was funded by the Kito Jackson Scholarship Fund, Cambridge Community Foundation, The Foundation To Be Named Later, and donations in memory of Kathleen Hintlian and Kelly Boshar.
The new machine, a Dr. Dish CT+, features a hoop surrounded by netting that guides the balls into a central chute to be rebounded back to the next player. Its screen displays shots made, attempts and other features.
The Cambridge Basketball Lab, which Meyersohn founded in 2023, is a co-ed basketball mentorship and skill development program offered to athletes in elementary school through high school. Some 488 student athletes, led by volunteer coach mentors, are enrolled in the program. It is supported by the Cambridge Recreation Department, which helps cover staffing costs, and the Cambridge Public schools, which donates gym space.
Lichtenstein said that the program has helped her prepare for high school basketball as well as giving her hopes of playing in college.
After the speeches, the gym split into small teams for a shooting competition. Teams included representatives from the Cambridge Recreation Department, Town Hall and Cambridge Public Schools, all of which helped make the purchase of the shooting machine a reality.
After last Wednesday’s ceremony, staff and city officials spoke about what the upgrade will mean for local athletes.
“It’s a great feeling to be here,” said Matthew Nelson, 45, operations director in the city manager’s office. “I was here a few years ago when they were at the high school, and one thing I was amazed about was to have this many basketballs and this many young people in a gym, and everyone is doing the workouts and they’re actually here to learn and do the drills and get better.”
Cayla Lichtenstein and Monzer Mhiuldin, both 14, said they expect the new technology will shape their training. “It feels great because I’ve been coming here since 2023, and the technology just keeps improving, and I can just keep getting better,” Mhiuldin said.
Each team had an adult leader and three lab players, while the rest of the athletes sat behind the team they supported. The teams rotated through timed shooting rounds. The losing team, they were warned, would finish with push-ups. Nelson, Cambridge Recreation Director Adam Corbeil, and Dave Murphy, superintendent of the Cambridge public schools and former CRLS principal, each served as team captains. Murphy’s team, including Morris Lichtenstein, CRLS senior Nada Elfathy, and Gomes-Keel, won the competition.
As the event wrapped up and players warmed up for their regular practice, supporters reflected on what the new machine means for the program. “It’s a blessing,” Corbeil, 47, said. Corbeil said he worked in Cambridge for decades and has watched the coaches and mentors grow up in similar programs, leading to the current program.
The staff at the lab were overjoyed with the new addition and the turnout at the event. “It was a fantastic feeling for all of us as coach mentors, and everyone that has been a part of the program to be able to provide this to our youth,” Meyersohn said.
This story is part of a partnership between Cambridge Day and the Boston University Department of Journalism.
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