ALD'S SONNY 2026 SENDS ELLIS, RAGOO, RIVERA TO MASARYK GYM

Aaron Ellis, Skye Ragoo and Josh Rivera, three of the top high school players in New York City, ran a preseason workout at the Aimé Leon Dore and New Balance Masaryk Community Gym on the Lower East Side for the SONNY New York 2026 season. Aimé Leon Dore built that gym into its brand over four years, and this is the 2026 version of the same bet: put the court first and let the clothes follow.

Ellis and Ragoo Share a Backcourt

Ellis and Ragoo are not strangers. Zagsblog's coverage of Christ The King's backcourt describes Ellis as Game MVP at the MADE Hoops Jordan Holiday Classic after a 24 point game, and credits a trio of Magna, Ragoo and Ellis for a home win over Bishop Loughlin. Two of the three players in the Masaryk workout therefore arrive as teammates with a record of producing together.

Rivera is the third name on the roster for the day. Aimé Leon Dore describes all three as among the top high school players in the city, which is a claim the brand makes and not a published ranking. The brand has used this approach before: its own account of the gym names Amir Lawrence, Bryan DeLeon and Jaden Rodriguez as ambassadors of the Masaryk Community Gym, so the 2026 group is the next set of local faces on the same court.

The Gym Has a History Before Aimé Leon Dore

The Masaryk Community Gym sits in the Masaryk Towers complex on the Lower East Side. Highsnobiety reported that the court was first refurbished by Nike in 2012, and Modern Notoriety reports that Aimé Leon Dore later refurbished it as part of its SONNY program. The brand's own page says its Masaryk Gym initiative began in 2022 to create opportunities for local talent through basketball.

SONNY New York, according to Modern Notoriety, is a basketball program Aimé Leon Dore founded in 2017, and the SONNY Youth Club is an after school program for local kids. The brand also runs a store inside the gym, at 69 Columbia Street, inside the same building as the court.

The SONNY merchandise has run from a New Balance SONNY NY warm up shirt in 2023 to a SONNY NY league hat and performance sock in Fall Winter 2024, according to GOAT listings. That mix of court, program, merchandise and retail is unusual for a fashion label. Most brands rent a gym for a shoot. Aimé Leon Dore has refurbished one, run programs in it and sold product from it, which is why a preseason workout there reads as part of an ongoing program.

Four Years of New Balance and Masaryk

The Masaryk name has been on product since the fall of 2023, when Aimé Leon Dore and New Balance released a 550 and 650 capsule honoring the gym. Retail listings put the 550 at $130 and the 650 at $165. A Fall Winter 2024 SONNY capsule followed, with a varsity jacket and the HESI LOW V2 sneaker, marking the first international Aimé Leon Dore and New Balance SONNY basketball tournament in Paris. The brand also put on a June 10, 2023 tournament with New Balance, according to Highsnobiety, and has hosted a second annual SONNY Women's 3v3 Invitational at Sara D. Roosevelt Park on the Lower East Side.

The 2026 partnership with New Balance has run in a different direction. The Made in USA 1300 in Navy went on sale March 26, 2026, and the 860v2 summer colorways followed on May 14 at $150. In July, the label put out a Performance Running Capsule built around technical running vests and a mesh hoodie, after the RC56 sneaker at $165. The brand's Fall Winter 2026 season then added a leather heavy delivery and The North Face capsule that went on sale September 17 at 11 a.m. Eastern in its stores and online. Basketball is the lane that does not depend on a product drop: this workout and the players in it are the SONNY content, with the gym doing the work a campaign set would do elsewhere.

The detail to hold onto is the venue. Three of the city's top high school players are preparing for their seasons in a gym that a sneaker brand refurbished, houses a store and has named on a shoe.