A Scarborough private school is offering what could be the shot of a lifetime for young basketball players who have their eye on a career playing professional ball.
Bond Academy, located near Birchmount and Ellesmere roads, is hosting a summer basketball training camp in an effort to create two new North American travel teams.
The teams –one for young boys and another for girls—will be run out of the school. The teams will travel south of the border to play games and tournaments, which will give players a chance to be seen by scouts.
On Wednesday, former NCAA basketball player and coach Wayne Dawkins, who runs the program, held a two-hour free training session aimed at showing some of the potential players the level of advanced basketball skills they’ll need to compete.
“I think the opportunity to experience a higher level of basketball- a basketball outside of their backyard that is obviously the best training ground, the best development ground and that’s the opportunity that lays ahead for them,” said Dawkins.
Elijah Anderson, 16, participated in the training session.
“I really want to get a Division One scholarship, and eventually go to the NBA,” he said.
It’s a similar goal for many of the participants, including Nathaniel Simms.
“I’d like to go first to a Division One NCAA school, and then wherever that leads to- whether its NBA or overseas, I just want to play basketball at a high level.”
Dawkins said there is a new interest in the United States for players from this country.
“Scouts are really looking to Canada now to see what the next wave of talent that we have, so absolutely crossing the border in to the U.S. is going to bring scouts.”
Dawkins says he’ll be looking for something beyond just raw skill in the players, including a strong work ethic and passion.
“A passion for the game and you know a desire to really work and get the most out of the game of basketball,” he said. “It’s something that is evident in each drill and in each situation that you put them in.”
All of the players chosen for the teams will become students at the private school, which advertises an annual tuition of $16,000 on its website.
Understanding that not all players will able to afford it, Phil Davies, the school’s secondary principal, says the school will make the necessary financial accommodations to make sure all players can attend.
“These students will all be housed at Bond Academy,” he said. “We'll give them a combination of blended learning, online learning and in class learning and then when they travel around North America for these tournaments and games we'll be their educational supplier.”
Dawkins said after the training session, he was blown away by the talent and determination of the potential players.
“You always hope you find a diamond in the rough, but truly because we believe that there's a gifted athlete in every child. So you know it may not necessarily be that diamond is an NBA player, but that diamond could be a kid who goes on to be a great coach or a great Canadian university basketball player, a great basketball skills trainer—you know there's a lot of different types of diamonds that can come out of pushing kids to be the best they can possibly be.”
