Dream Hoops™ launched to help kids in need while learning valuable life skills
Basketball New South Wales is proud to announce an exciting new partnership with Leap Basketball Foundation to provide opportunities for kids who would, due to their circumstances, miss out on the chance to play basketball or represent their local club, community, region, state or country.
The Dream Hoops program aims to reach kids and youths who love basketball and desperately want the chance to play but don’t have means to do so. This may include buying shoes or a playing kit, or paying for game or registration fees. For those with great potential or identified talent, there is also opportunity to participate in High Performance programs and representative events.
The Dream Hoops initiative is focused on building up the community and strengthening our youth to provide children in need with an outlet for not only physical activity, but also a fun and competitive outlet for youths with aspirations of playing basketball through a grant application process. Dream Hoops complements NSW State government’s Active Kids initiative which will go in to its second year in 2019.
The Dream Hoops program will help “level the playing field” to ensure all kids in NSW who love the game of basketball and have aspirations of playing basketball at the highest levels are given equal opportunity to participate, develop and represent.
Basketball NSW, CEO, Maria Nordstrom said she is proud to partner with Steve Atkins and in particular his foundation “Leap Basketball Foundation” (in conjunction with the Australian Sports Foundation) to develop and implement the Dream Hoops program for children in NSW to access the same training and leagues that may not be affordable for their parents or caregivers.
“On behalf of Basketball NSW we would like to extend our gratitude to Leap Basketball Foundation for its commitment to jointly provide this opportunity to help strengthen our community ties and develop basketball talent by delivering the Dream Hoops program for youths in NSW,” said Nordstrom.
“Basketball in NSW thrives on participation and with the support of Dream Hoops, our sport will be more accessible than ever to children and their families. We are happy to announce that over two years, more than 200,000 dollars will be accessible to low socio-economic, multicultural, regional and other disadvantaged families to access the same resources that may not be readily accessible for them”.
“This program will help us fortify the community by providing the youth with a constructive outlet that is basketball which promotes self-esteem, teamwork, friendship, cooperation, social responsibility and most importantly physical activity.”
Leap Basketball Foundation founder, Steve Atkins says partnering with Basketball NSW is an exciting opportunity to help kids in need, while learning valuable life skills.
“Leap Basketball Foundation in conjunction with the Australian Sports Foundation is proud to support Dream Hoops. Basketball is my passion and the Leap Basketball Foundation was created to provide a pathway for investment in our basketball youth, as well as giving all kids an equal opportunity to participate, and perhaps represent, while developing valuable life skills. It’s not just about finding the next star.”
“Partnering Basketball NSW to launch Dream Hoops is an exciting milestone. It is the first of many programs Leap Basketball Foundation hopes to roll out across NSW in conjunction with Basketball NSW, and we are actively identifying other opportunities with corporate partners from 2019 and beyond”, says Steve.