A new weekend basketball program for Richmonders ages 15 to 20 will roll out in June as part of Richmond’s summer offerings.

On Monday Mayor Levar M. Stoney announced the new city recreation initiative that is to launch 6 p.m. Friday, June 9, at two sites, the Gill Center at Fairfield Court Elementary School in the East End and George Wythe High School in South Side.

The program will run four hours, 6 to 10 p.m., on Friday and Saturday evenings through Saturday, Aug. 19, he and Christopher Frelke, city director of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities, said at a press conference at the Southside Community Center.

Participants “will get to play basketball socially and also be safe in a positive environment,” the mayor told reporters. He said the city also is exploring options for providing transportation “for those who might need a safe ride home at the end of the night, as well.”

The program appears to be modeled after the spring basketball program that the RVA League for Safer Streets has been operating for the past six years, though that group was not announced as a partner.

The league, which offers spring basketball play at the Liberation Church campus on Midlothian Turnpike, completed its most recent season a few weeks ago.

Founded in 2017 by Paul Taylor and the late Jawad Abdu, the program has sought to address issues of violence and offer a positive outlet for young men ages 17 to 28, a bit older group than the city’s program plans to serve.

On its Facebook page, the league states that “basketball is the draw but unifying families and reducing crime is the mission.”