About Coach MOORE
From the President and Founder of HOOPS 4 Life, Tony Moore:
As a child growing up in the ghetto in Harlem, New York, in the 1960s, what I wanted most was to feel safe, a sense of belonging, and free to play. I lived in the housing projects, amidst poverty, racism and prejudice, abuse, gangs, drugs, crime and shootings.
As a community we weren’t entitled to basic services other communities received. People living in the ghetto were stereotyped as drug dealers or gang members. If someone was dying an ambulance or the police wouldn’t bother to come to help.
I wanted more for myself, but where I lived was all I knew and all I had. I started playing basketball at school when I was eight years-old. I loved the game, and the connection it gave me to other people playing in a team together. I loved that no matter what was going on around me in my life, as soon as I touched the basketball the reality of what I had to live with disappeared. I could always rely on basketball. It never let me down. Playing basketball, I started to learn a lot more about myself and my capabilities. I discovered I could change my life, as I started to earn respect from other kids in the neighbourhood and teachers.
Basketball gave me hope of opportunities, and despite realising I could never become a star player in the NBA, I knew it could help me do so much more with my life. I played all through primary and high school, and then joined the US military and go to play with a US Navy representative team. It was then I realise how powerful of a tool the game was to break down barriers and engage people. It was an amazing experience meeting different people from around the world while playing basketball.
When I moved to Australia, I saw some kids going through the same things I did growing up. That planted the seeds for HOOPS 4 Life.
What if every child, no matter their circumstances, could achieve a solid education and become a positive contributor to their community and our world?
That’s the question we ask ourselves at HOOPS 4 Life. We live and breathe basketball, but we’re about so much more than the game.
At HOOPS 4 Life, we work to create a world where every child, no matter their circumstances, achieves a solid education and becomes a positive contributor to their community and our world.
- Build young people’s skills in critical thinking and problem-solving
- Strengthen positive norms and behaviours
- Ensure young people engage in interactive and challenging examination of beliefs and biases that stand in the way of healthy attitudes and actions
- Help change negative behaviours before young people put themselves at risk
- Create safe and healthy environments that are memorable, valuable and fun for kids
Sport provides a great foundation which is embraced and understood by young people everywhere. Sport provides opportunities to everyone, regardless of race, culture, nationality or economic circumstances.
- Effective communication skills
- Goal setting skills
- Problem solving and decision making skills
- Emotional control
- Motivation, healthy habits, conditions and attitudes
Our players learn that if they can develop these skills through the game of basketball they can use them in every part of their lives.