A coach’s passion, coupled with the growing popularity of basketball, led to the establishment of a summer program to allow players to practice their sport during the summer season.
Playing basketball all summer long: it is now possible in Mauricie thanks to the project initiated by Louis Hamel-Boisvert. Elite Hoops Mauricie brings together young people from third to fifth grade from all over the region.
The demand was strong, admits the one who decided to take things in hand. It comes from a desire I had from several parents to organize structured basketball for young people, because for many, once the school basketball season ends in April, they have no other offers of structured basketball, explains the coach.
Even if weekly camps or in certain schools exist, it is often in isolation or without the possibility of playing matches, he believes.
There are many who have experienced COVID-19, who have been locked up for two years, who have not had access to team sports. Young people, what they want is to be part of a team.
A quote from Louis Hamel-Boisvert, coach and instigator, Elite Hoops Mauricie
He formed teams for the summer. Until August, the approximately 200 participants, grouped into 16 teams, train every week. They also have the opportunity to play exhibition matches or tournaments.
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The players come from different primary and secondary schools in Mauricie.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Jean-François Fortier
Initially, Louis Hamel-Boisvert thought he would attract fewer than 100 young people and form 8 teams. Ultimately, more than twice as many registered.
Even though his project has the word elite in its name, he does not want to be elitist. We gave ourselves the mandate to take everyone, he explains. Do you want to play basketball? We’re going to make you play basketball.
The demand for basketball is huge in Mauricie. Young people want to play it.
A quote from Louis Hamel-Boisvert, coach and instigator, Elite Hoops Mauricie
Among the young people, Aymane Chraibi, 15, from Pionniers secondary school, registered to develop skills. During the season I was not the best in my team, he says. I decided to do this camp to become better and to be able to show my teammates on my team and my coaches that I could improve.
Jérémy Mukendi, 15, from the Académie les Estacades, expresses similar motivations: One of my friends suggested it to me and he told us that it could really help us play well together and develop during the summer.
He started playing basketball in the fifth grade. His idol? Well honestly, I would say my brother, because he’s really the one who got me into basketball and because of him, I wouldn’t even be here.
A family matter
He’s not the only one to have adopted basketball because a member of his family played. Léa Guttierez Massicotte, 11, from Val-Marie school, confides right away: I wanted to follow in my mother’s footsteps, because she played basketball, and she won lots of trophies. One year, she was even in the newspaper!
The passion for basketball still burns inside her mother, Amélie Massicotte, who wants to pass it on to her daughters. She is also there when Louis Hamel-Boisvert needs a helping hand.
I think that basketball in Mauricie is currently having a big wave, which I see and I think it is beneficial for everyone, because it is a magnificent sport, she says.
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Amélie Massicotte played basketball with the Vert et Or of Saint-Joseph Séminaire and with the Diablos of Cégep de Trois-Rivières. She passes on her passion for basketball to her daughters.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Jean-François Fortier
If she gives advice to her elder Léa, the latter learns and wants in turn to pass on some of her knowledge: I like that, because I meet people and sometimes, I help them a little to get started.
Next to her, her friend Romy Phet, 10 years old, also from Val-Marie school, is also launching balloons this summer. Playing with people, whether they’re my friends or not, I find it’s a really cool thing to get to know other people, she explains.
The dream of a structure to play in during the summer
Given the popularity of his project, Louis Hamel-Boisvert had to surround himself with around thirty coaches, all of whom were motivated to let young people express themselves with a ball, once the school season was over.
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Louis Hamel-Boisvert has surrounded himself with around thirty coaches to supervise the training of his program, which includes several women’s teams.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Jean-François Fortier
It’s a lot of people from the Mauricie basketball community who are involved, schools, coaches, young people, parents who also lend a hand, he adds. That’s what makes me the most proud, what I find the most beautiful in it.
For the moment, no structured summer basketball league exists for young people in Quebec. Louis Hamel-Boisvert intends to do his part to ensure that this dream comes true in the coming years.
2024-06-29 21:33:02
#inclusive #summer #basketball #program #Mauricie
