Page 3 - Wayne Dispatch Pages

Believe the HYPE

From recreation to philanthropy, owner Ali Sayed

explains how HYPE Athletics is changing the game

By Courtney Conover “We built this relationship that al-
A doctor. lowed kids to develop both socially
That’s what Ali Sayed, owner of and physically,” he says.
HYPE Athletics, wanted to be when Even back then—amid the appar-
he grew up. ent focus on athletics—there was
“I wanted to be a doctor because also an emphasis on overall health
I knew they made a lot of money,” ex- and wellness. In 2006, HYPE added
plains Sayed. “And I didn’t have that a social service component, which
when I was a kid.” provides tutoring, mentoring, coun-
Although Sayed attended school seling, life skills, substance abuse
in West Dearborn, one would be mis- programs, and career development.
taken to assume he was well off. It was a calling that Sayed couldn’t
He wasn’t. defy. “A mom would come to me and
The life Sayed came to know say, ‘Hey, Ali, I think my daughter or
while residing with his family in East son is smoking cigarettes or pot;
Dearborn differed greatly from the they’re failing school…Can you
one he saw at school—these worlds please talk to them?’” Sayed recalls.
weren’t one and the same. Due to “I was like an older brother to all
overcrowding, Sayed was bussed to these kids—I was only 23 years old
a different middle school—one at the time.”
across town in West Dearborn, a Sayed began putting together a
middle-to-upper-middle class com- life skills curriculum comprised of
munity that was markedly more personal development research and
white-collar. articles, which was no small feat
“My neighborhood was predomi- back in 2005—this was during the
nantly lower income. I knew kids age of dial-up Internet, after all. He
who shoveled snow in the winter to shared the information with HYPE
make a few dollars, cut some grass staff, who then shared it with par-
in the summer, and maybe delivered ents, youth, and anyone who needed
the newspaper. That’s how I grew it. “There was no Google, I printed
up,” recalls Sayed. “Going to that everything I could find on substance
school was like participating in the abuse, etc.,” Sayed says. “We ad-
musical West Side Story. We just did- justed and developed programming
n’t click,” recalls Sayed. based on the needs of our commu-
But that invaluable experience nity.”
ended up being a blessing in disguise In 2019, HYPE Social Services re-
because it charted the course which ceived a major upgrade when the or-
led Sayed precisely where he is ganization purchased a church in
today: the owner of HYPE Athletics Lincoln Park that HYPE converted
Community, a deeply rooted, non- into an out-patient therapy and resi-
profit community-based organiza- Ali Sayed with wife Amanda and daughters Amina, Laila, Inaya, and Aliya. dential unit. The facility, which is
tion that partners with federal, state, slated to open this fall, will serve
and local agencies to provide serv- Dearborn’s Bryant Middle School, it and teamwork—that’s what inspired substance abuse and mental health
ices and programs. was this: “[My classmates] became Sayed. patients that are referred from
“We serve families and improve my teammates—and then we be- “That’s why I started HYPE,” HYPE’s S.A.F.E. Substance Abuse
the quality of life through fitness, ed- came friends because we were team- Sayed says. Program. S.A.F.E. has grown expo-
ucation, and sports,” says Sayed. mates. I realized that our differences And so, that small yet respectable nentially through the years and now
Sure, today HYPE Athletics bears were erased when we were on the basketball tournament in 2001 led offers group therapy, drug screening,
a resemblance to a burgeoning fit- field or on the court because we had to training camps and basketball, in-school prevention, intervention
ness company due to its two thriving one common goal…and that was to soccer, and volleyball camps, which services, and a Second Chance Pro-
locations—one in Wayne and one in win,” Sayed says emphatically. “It eventually blossomed into a move- gram, which champions sobriety.
Dearborn Heights. But it didn’t start was one of those things where we ment spanning 12 cities and a total Meanwhile, HYPE continued to
out that way. Rather, it started quite would say, ‘Hey, let’s get together and of 21 schools and recreation centers. expand their athletic presence with
simply with a three-on-three basket- [play]. Let’s expose other people to By 2010, HYPE was hosting basket- the arrival of their first brick-and-
ball tournament. what we were exposed to.” ball camps with 400 kids, and the mortar facility in Dearborn Heights
If a 19-year-old Sayed had The bonding produced by cama- leagues possessed more than 700
learned anything during his time at raderie, inclusivity, sportsmanship, kids. See Hype, page 5
The Wayne Dispatch · October 2021 · 3