Midnight basketball is an initiative which developed in the 1990s to curb inner-city crime in the United States by keeping urban youth off the streets and engaging them with alternatives to drugs and crime. It was founded by G. Van Standifer in the late 1980s. Young people aged from 14 to 29, mostly men of various minority groups, could go and play basketball during the peak crime hours of 22:00 to 02:00, immediately, thereafter, attending informative programs that gave them helpful skills for everyday life.[1] It was a way for young men to form a sense of community, get out of a dangerous environment, and give them a sense of hope for the future. Midnight basketball helped decrease crime in the neighbourhoods where it was run, and it was a positive outlet for many young men. It helped many stay out of trouble and off the streets. By 2019, various cities in the United States brought back the program.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]