Tag: AAU Basketball

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Official Practice Begins March 5

Now that school basketball has finished, we will be officially kicking off our tournament season on March 5th for all of our teams. Our players and coaches are excited about the opportunity to grow, develop, and compete! Our mission and focus is to develop leaders on and off the court and take a holistic approach to skill development physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. In addition to our skill building practices and playing in the most competitive tournaments, we will have even more opportunities this year for them to develop as a player and person including:

  • Leadership moments – Group sessions for all of our players to come together and develop leadership skills as well as skills around mental toughness and character development.
  • Friends of The Program Moments – Group sessions where we invite friends of our basketball and leadership academy to come in and share their expertise in the areas of peak performance, personal development, and effective skills for navigating the next level of high school, college, and beyond.
  • Goal Setting – Individual opportunities to teach all of our players our effective system for setting and achieving the right goals.
  • Serving The Community – Team opportunities to participate in service projects for people and causes within our sphere of influence.
  • Individual and Team Training – Opportunities to sign up for additional skill training including shooting, specific position play including playing point guard, speed and explosiveness training from my friend and peak performance colleague Will Collins, etc.

The difference is always seen in the changed lives of others, and we are looking forward to continuing to make a positive impact in the lives of the players in our program both on and off the court!

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A New Year!

The new year is here, and we are excited to build on the success of our teams and our program from last year! All of our teams grew in skills, experience, and knowledge and are looking forward to the upcoming AAU basketball season.

For 2018, the Van Hoozer Basketball Academy will be supporting 3 teams:

There is a chance that we will have a fourth team as well. Our focus is to develop the whole player – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Our mission is to develop leaders on and off the court and to prepare all of our players to perform at the next level. For 2018, we will accomplish this mission by continuing to offer these unique programs and opportunities:

  • Playing in the most competitive basketball tournaments
  • Organized basketball and skill development practices through the AAU season
  • “Leadership Moments” during practices where we focus on leadership skill development with all of our players
  • Mental Game Training to help all of our players becoming mentally tough and develop skills and techniques to be resilient and determined
  • NEW: Individual Skill Development – We will also be offering individual skill development for players that want further basketball training including shooting, ball handling, and position player development. Email me if you are interested in reserving a spot for individual training.

While we are not holding open tryouts for our teams, you can still inquire about opportunities to play for one of our teams or to sign up for individual skill development training by emailing me.

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Trust The Process

By Coach Kevin Lopardo

As the head coach of the 4th grade Katy Raptors team, I have been extremely pleased with the development, growth, and focus of our players.  Each player has dedicated themselves to becoming a better overall player.  Physically, each player is unique and brings their own talents to the basketball floor.  Within our program, we stress the mental part of the game and how to maximize each player’s talent for the betterment of the team.  This buy-in attitude has created an atmosphere of togetherness and pride for our program.  Although each player is unique, it is the collective attitude of the Raptors which creates a winning culture.  

As our season began, many of our players had played together at some point before.  The continuity of the program took some time to come together as new players were introduced into our system.  After a month of practice, we were ready for tournament action.  Our first tournament was a learning curve for our players as it was their first experience with AAU basketball.  After the first game (in a loss), we immediately saw a difference in our players.  A renewed confidence and peace came over the team as they settled into the second game.  We won against a very good team serving as a springboard to our season.  We finished the day 1-2 ; however, the results of the games were less important than the experience.  After that weekend, our players knew they could compete with other programs.

As our tournament season progressed, we were a .500 program while improving every week.  As we invested in our players, their growth became limitless.  Heading into mid-May we won our first tournament of the season going 3-0 at an Alodia tournament.  Our players played two extremely hard fought games back-to-back.  The team needed all their mental toughness to gut out the final two games.  Our program took a major leap that day and our players belief within themselves and their teammates won the day.  This year has been a clear stepping stone for years to come.  For our first full experience, I could not have been more proud of each player.  I’m excited for the future and growth of these young men!