A new basketball academy starting play this fall has the lofty goal of not just teaching bounce passes and back-door cuts, but also bringing communities together to help kids shoot for their dreams.
North Vancouver’s Level 10 Fitness is partnering with the Squamish Nation to present the Level 10 Basketball Academy based out of the Nation’s newly refurbished Chief Joe Mathias Centre. The academy is set to begin sessions Sept. 19 for players in Kindergarten up to Grade 8, with high school programs scheduled to begin in the spring of 2017. The goal is to offer athletic movement training and life skills, with a focus on basketball, while building a bridge between First Nations and non-First Nations communities.
“I‘ve worked in this field and understand what’s out there, and I think we genuinely have something unique here,” said academy head coach Ryan Lenarduzzi, who has worked with Level 10 founder and owner Anthony Findlay to develop the academy’s athletic program. “The goal is not to be the biggest club, we want to be a club that is known for maybe (developing) a different approach for guiding athletes and people.”
It’s a monumental partnership for the First Nation’s community, said Wilson Williams, a Squamish Nation councillor who is also the interim department head of recreation for the Nation.
“This is precedent setting for our community,” Williams said about the resource-sharing potential of the program. “But also we’re taking this step because we’re part of the mainstream community too and we want people to feel that way as they visit the Chief Joe Mathias Centre or they just come through our territory. Our doors are always open to working with other organizations to really build on programs and services and make the community stronger.”
The academy will be open to all young athletes who want to join, but Williams added that holding the sessions at Chief Joe Mathias Centre is a great way to encourage First Nations athletes to get involved in sport.
“I’m a firm believer in bringing the sport to our community, and then our people will be more engaged,” he said. “The ‘If you build it, they will come,’ kind of theory. … Bringing it to the Chief Joe Mathias Centre is bringing it to the Squamish Nation. It’s in our territory. Hosting this type of program is meaningful because we’re hosting them but also our people will participate. Not only the athletes, but parents will get involved, they’ll see the structure.”
Academy participants will also get to use a revamped facility that includes new artwork as well as a new hardwood floor with a customized paint job.
“When you come in, you feel you’re in a First Nations community,” said Williams. “The beauty of the hardwood floor and the artwork – it’s a good feeling.”
Sessions for younger athletes will focus on movement and basic basketball skills, ramping up to more complex skill development for older players.
“The basis of our stuff is in athletic movement,” said Lenarduzzi, who will be working with Level 10 trainers at the sessions. “Maybe we can do better and re-think how we work with athletes at the community level – teaching them a little differently, spending a little more time on teaching life skills and trying to teach them how to move properly, prevent injury, those types of things.”
The name of the academy’s head coach is obviously familiar to most North Shore sports fans. Ryan Lenarduzzi is, indeed, the son of Canadian soccer legend Bobby Lenarduzzi. The younger Lenarduzzi, however, forged a different path than his footy-loving father.
“Basketball has been my passion,” says Ryan Lenarduzzi, who starred at Handsworth and Capilano University before moving on to coaching and sports administration. “I’m blessed to have had basketball provide me with really good coaches, great trainers, and that’s taken me to a level where it’s opened doors for me to learn from more great people. And now I’m really excited about the opportunity of taking that accumulation of knowledge and giving it to that kid who was me 15 or 20 years ago.”
One of those trainers who guided Ryan Lenarduzzi as a young basketball player was none other than Anthony Findlay, whose work with Olympians such as Maëlle Ricker and big-time athletes in all the major professional North American sports has made him into a celebrity on the workout circuit. Findlay also does a lot of work within the local grass-roots sports scene, said Lenarduzzi, and it was his connections that brought Level 10 and the Squamish Nation together for the basketball academy.
“He’s a great community asset and he always has been, and I think that’s why opportunities like this arise,” said Lenarduzzi. “He’s always been part of the community, a real member of the community. I think that opens doors over time, and I think that’s why we have this opportunity.”
As for Lenarduzzi, he often gets asked why he didn’t follow his father onto the pitch, instead choosing to bounce over to the hardwood.
“My dad played all-star basketball right up until he had to leave for England to pursue his soccer career. Ironically he loves the fact that I played basketball. It was like the path that he didn’t get to explore,” said Lenarduzzi, before letting out a laugh. “At least, that’s the way he tells it in retrospect.”
For more information on the Level 10 Basketball Academy visit level10fitness.com/basketball-academy-2. An open house and barbecue at the Chieff Joe Mathias Centre, including information about the Level 10 Basketball Academy, will be held Sept. 9 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
