In The Beginning...

The Kids Unlimited basketball program began in 2003 with a group of middle school students connected to a mentoring project with our after school program.   The program arose from the need to find ways to allow youth to engage in structured recreation and become part of a team.  The success of the program have grown from one team in it's inception to nearly 300 participants a year.  

The focus of the program is to remove the barriers surrounding team sports for youth.

Many of our community's youth do not get the opportunity to play because of the  barriers around money, culture, transportation; just to name a few.  Our original efforts targeted ten kids who had never played before.  Today the program is an instructional model created to engage kids of all backgrounds and playing abilities.  Some of our kids are moving on to play competitively while others find opportunity in having a team to fit in on in more recreational pursuits.

Basketball has become a reward system and expansion of our efforts to assert the importance of education.   All of the youth who participate in our project are also connected with after school efforts designed to promote education.   We have begun a system of engaging kids in sports by outreaching to parents, removing financial barriers, and providing them with quality opportunities to learn the game through reputable coaching.

These programs made possible by the help of the OCF Reed and Carolee WalkerFund.