Thunder Struck Basketball believes in the importance of giving young people the equal opportunity to realize that, like basketball or any team sport, life is about focusing on what they can achieve as individuals in collaboration with others and not just about what they or others around them may be experiencing. Our vision is to build a fully-equipped sports and education center, where boys and yo
ung men from North Central Florida can receive academic tutoring and ACT/SAT preparation in addition to participating in travel team sports, such as basketball, volleyball and indoor lacrosse. Our hope is that many of these young people will go on to attend and play for high school and college teams. Thunder Struck Basketball realizes we cannot fix all the problems in a child’s life through involvement in such travel teams, but we know that the benefits of organized youth sports are real and that they can have a profound impact on individual children and their family’s overall well-being by countering the negative influences and challenges they face daily in their communities. According to researchers at the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports, for example, young people who participate in organized sports do better in school, have better interpersonal skills, are more team-oriented and are generally healthier. We envision a future where, regardless of their ability to afford to participate, the boys and young men of Gainesville will be provided with a plethora of opportunities for leadership and socialization, as well as the development of skills of better handling success and failure, through our organized travel competitions. When a father or mother is absent, the team members, coaches and families who are involved in the travel teams will become a support network to ensure better outcomes for every child and, eventually, our community as a whole.
