Our History & Story
Twenty years ago, Mano Watsa took on the challenge of creating a summer job for himself. It was 1991 and at the age of 15 he decided to start his very own basketball camp in his parents’ backyard. With 8 campers in attendance the first week, playing on one basketball hoop, the Watsa Basketball Camp had officially begun.
.
Through the support of his basketball coaches (see the camp Hall of Fame) and the local community, the camps blossomed. By the time Mano graduated high school, nearly 200 local youth were attending four weeks of camps offered each summer in his backyard. .
While attending the University of Waterloo, the camps continued to expand and Mano began to accept requests to speak at schools and summer camps. As his university career wrapped up, Mano officially launched More Than Hoops, the company in which the basketball camps and all his future endeavors would fall under.
Looking for a way to use basketball as a platform to further inspire students, Mano created Power To Choose. With the goal of combining basketball, entertainment and interaction with inspirational messages, Mano brought together a team of athletes and conducted their first assembly on January 21, 2000. The program was an instant success and before the school year had finished, the team had performed for 25 local schools. Power To Choose is a highly sought-after motivational program that has performed at over 400 schools and has inspired over 250,000 students across the country over the past 10 years.
In 2001, More Than Hoops also began overnight camps for players across Ontario. The new 'Watsa Basketball Camps at Hidden Acres' soared from 22 campers the first year to 150 players by the third year. The camp is now in it's 12th year and over 1,500 players from across Canada have been through the camps.
In 2002, Mano started a program for point guards called the Point Guard Academy. It was his dream to create a program similar to the one he had been so impacted by when he was a player (called Point Guard College). The Point Guard Academy started with 36 players in the first summer and over five years the program grew to involve over 250 players across Canada, while operating sessions in four different provinces.
In 2006, things came full circle for Mano, as Dena Evans, the owner of Point Guard College, contacted him and invited him down to visit a Point Guard College session in Missouri. The two hit it off instantly and decided to form a partnership with their respective companies. In the months following, the Point Guard Academy merged with Point Guard College and Mano officially took on the role of President and CEO of Point Guard College.
In late 2010, the company decided to expand beyong point guard play and began a transformation to a complete basketball university. The company also changed its name to PGC Basketball.
In 2011, PGC Basketball will offer nine different courses with over 90 sessions in 40 different locations across North America. For more information on PGC Basketball, visit www.pgcbasketball.com.
Would you like to learn more about the Director?
Check out the press coverage More Than Hoops programs have received!
|
