Joshua's Mentor

Last Thursday at basketball practice, while Jayden was on the court with his team, Joshua went to another court to shoot around. When I looked up, I noticed that he was shooting with a father and son. As usual, Joshua was swishing all of his shots in a friendly game of HORSE and a free throw contest.

After a while, the father, Curtis approached me, introduced himself and asked if Joshua was taking any basketball trainings, how long he's been playing, how old he was and so on. Curtis told me that Joshua is a great shooter and has LOTS of potential. Apparently, Curtis used to offer some training sessions at the Hardwood Palace but got out of it for various reasons. He didn't like the fact that they charged so much for the extra trainings. He felt that if you have the knowledge,experience and the desire to want to teach kids, why charge? He mentioned the fact that when he was growing up, all of the camps and trainings he attended were all free of charge and felt that this is how it should be.

Curtis played Pac-10 College ball for Oregon. Obviously he has the skill, knowledge, heart, and experience.

He went on to say that he trains with his 5th grade son and opens it up for kids who he sees has that "potential". His son is a great player, we've seen him play in the past and it's obvious that he has the skill. Curtis works with a small group of hand-picked kids.

Hundreds of kids are at the Hardwood Palace each week and Curtis said there are only just a couple here and there that he sees who stand out in the crowd and last week, it happened to be Joshua! What a great honor!

Curtis has a full-time job and commutes to and from Stockton and yet he chooses to train 3 to 4 times per week. That evening, Lance and I both talked to Curtis, exchanged numbers and planned to meet up with him on the weekend to have Joshua try it out.

I'll post a new entry after the training session. I have a feeling that it'll be a great experience. We are all looking forward to it.