The New York Gaucho basketball program was founded in 1967 by Lou d'Almeida as an adjunct of the Westside Y.  Now in it's 43rd year, the New York Gauchos offers kids from across the New York City metropolitan area a competitive nationally ranked AAU basketball experience for young men and women ages 5 to 18 who aspire to pursue a college education.

Teamwork Foundation's New York Gauchos program was established on the  vigorous premise that sports activity could reshape and offer new direction to the lives of high school dropouts and in the process, assist troubled youths in establishing real roots in the huge housing complexes in which they are growing up. 

The Gauchos' goal is to motivate kids to stay in school by providing the incentive of excellent basketball competition and provide every youngster with the opportunity to make something of his or her life.  The Gauchos program has worked with thousands of New York City youngsters, providing them with the tools they need to complete their high school education and plan for their future career.

The program has proven effective, as 95% of all Gauchos earn a high school diploma and 85% of our high school graduates go on to college, many of whom receive a full scholarship from their experience playing with the Gauchos during their high school basketball career.

Gauchos distinguished alumni include NBA players John Salley, Kenny Anderson, Mark Jackson, Chris Mullins, Pearl Washington, Jamal Mashburn, Rod Strickland, Felipe Lopez, Stephon Marbury, Ed Pinckney, Sidney Green, Taj Gibson of the Chicago Bulls and Sundiata Gains of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Most Gaucho graduates go on to succeed in a wide variety of professional  careers including police officers, stockbrokers, schoolteachers, correction officers, attorneys, photographers, carpenters, advertising executives, and even hotel chefs.

Our Staff includes VP and General Manager Rocky Bucano, Director of Basketball Operations Billy Singleton, Weekend Development Program Manager Russell Smith, as well as about 20 part time coaches and assistant coaches. Parents and other volunteers augment staff by providing team management, additional assistant coaching, tutoring, and other general services. At least one coach and two volunteers supervise all team activities.

Charles Chiara is the President of Teamwork Foundation, Inc., and the New York Gauchos. The most important argument we can make for the continued success and growth of the New York Gauchos basketball program is that this is not an idea, a theory, or an experiment. It is simply a program that works. It is a program that is actually making a difference, every day, every hour by helping thousands of young people get into college and on to a better way of life. The need cannot be ignored and we don't. We strive to grow our program each and every year and we hope that our success is a template for future programs throughout the country.