Building off the success of a similar offering for female players, the Chilliwack Basketball Club held a workout and fire-pit discussion with eight boys in Grades 8 and 9.
The special guest holding court with the young players was Marek Klassen, a professional player with the Fraser Valley Bandits of the Canadian Elite Basketball League and a graduate of Abbotsford’s Yale Lions.
READ MORE: Kayli Sartori leads mentorship program for Chilliwack Basketball Club
READ MORE: Abbotsford’s Marek Klassen comes home to play for Fraser Valley Bandits
Klassen led his charges through a 90 minute socially distant and no-contact skills session.
Afterwards they arranged chairs around a fire-pit and talked about what it’s like to be a professional in today’s basketball game and what it takes to take your game to the next level as a high school player.
This was the first-ever Boys Outdoor Skills and Mentorship Program but CBC coach Kyle Graves said it won’t be the last.
“As a young player, the opportunity to work with a player of Marek’s status and experience is amazing,”Graves noted. “Hearing his stories about rising up the ranks as a unknown player, to becoming a B.C. MVP, to getting a university scholarship in the United States to playing professionally in England, Turkey, Ukraine and with the G league affiliate of the New Orleans Pelicans.
“These eight players got to work side by side with someone they can look up to and aspire to try to reach some of his accomplishments. The first goal of a coach is to try to build passion and dreams with our players about the game and I think we are accomplishing that with our mentorship nights.”
Anyone who is interested in future mentorship nights for boys and girls of all ages is asked to email infochilliwackbasketballclub@gmail.com
@ProgressSports
eric.welsh@theprogress.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Want to support local journalism during the pandemic? Make a donation here.