IE Sports Net Spotlight

(By Brian ‘Coach B’ Arrington)

One of the biggest roles and responsibilities of a parent is to nurture and forest their child’s ambitions.  When those childhood ambitions turn to the world sports, parents are always looking for ways to make their child the next Kobe Bryant, Peyton Manning or Clayton Kershaw.

But what are parents to do, when their little ones have a dream of NBA or WNBA glory?  Where can these parents turn?  For generations now, those parents have turned to Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for guidance for their kids hoop dreams.  Why you ask?  When you look at amateur basketball and the many choices it has to offer, you don’t need to look further then AAU to provide an environment for your little one to learn, grow and develop in the game.

One of the largest non-profit, volunteer sports organizations in the United States, AAU began January 21, 1888.  Many of today’s top players in the NBA began their careers in AAU basketball, names like Kevin Durant, Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony just to name a few.

But what does a premier Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball program look like?  What does exceptional AAU basketball coaching and training look like?  What does an AAU program, that put players first, and chapter egos last, look like?  These are just a few questions that parents must ask their selves, as they navigate the waters of the AAU basketball circuit.

Cali Elite Basketball was developed out of a frustration with the leadership in the community and in the world of AAU basketball. On April 2, 2012 Coach Anthony Nichols and Coach Destini Rhodes, decided to create a Cali Elite Basketball – a nonprofit Christian based program that is focused on player development on and off the basketball court.  Cali Elite Basketball has done a great job building an elite program in the Moreno Valley community training kids from 5 years old to High School Seniors. Their tirelessly effort has been vital to providing a home to local players and their personal and basketball development – focused on the Student in Student Athlete. Now the same players/parents, who previously were forced to travel all the way to Los Angeles or Orange County, for an elite training and travel basketball can stay local in in the Inland Empire to training/play for a first class program like Cali Elite Basketball.

One of the areas that Cali Elite Basketball is most proud of is their pledge to keep their fees low.  Since day one, they have kept that initial mission to assist children with education, sports, health and development; keeping their monthly fees at a modest $65 per month. This is to ensure all children in their community have an opportunity of being exposed to elite basketball training.  The entire Cali Elite Basketball organization works together as a family fundraising throughout the year, to ensure one, they keep their fees low as promised, and to maintain the organizations standards remain high and the program operates at the highest level.

Basketball is not the only area of importance to Coach Anthony, Coach Destini and Cali Elite Basketball.  Cali Elite installs discipline and full belief, that one must earn the right to dream and that every player must work, plan, build and dream in that order.  When signing up to participate with Cali Elite Basketball, players and their parents must be willing to understand the importance of school work and commitment to being a good student athlete. Students are expected to achieve good grades. Cali Elite Basketball coaches regularly check the grades of the players on their team.
The important of grade is consistently instilled in players.  The goal is to use basketball as a vehicle to all a player to gain an education as well as teach them priceless life lesions along the way. A College Basketball scholarship and college degree is the ultimate goal for any player/parent but the reality is most players will not play at the next level. Therefore Players are taught; regardless of how talented you are on the basketball court, without grades, you cannot succeed in leaning the life lessons needed and a goal of a scholarship will not be achieved.

Cali Elite Basketball offers a well-rounded program with tutoring, and mentoring services to help their players achieve their goals both on and off the court.  They are a Non-profit organization focused on much more than just winning.  They look to build character, through faith, commitment and hard work. With their hard work and determination, the organization is sure to reach its ultimate goal of building a community based sports complex in their home town of Moreno Valley as they continue to service the community and provide a place for our kids to grow into the future leaders they are.

Cali Elite Basketball Contact Info:
Coach Anthony Nichols | Program Director/Head Coach
☎ 909-717-7031
? EliteSports_Basketball@aim.com
www.leaguelineup.com/elitesports
IG: @CaliEliteBasketball
? @CaliEliteBallin
FB: CaliEliteBasketball