Sport
12 January, 2023
Dribbling the dream: Kingston Basketball Academy prepares youngsters for centre court
MELBOURNE-BASED Kingston Basketball Academy hosted its first ever North Brisbane Holiday Program at Morayfield Sport & Events Centre from January 9 to 10, teaching players the skills they need to make a representation team.
The two three-hour intense training sessions, which attracted close to 30 players aged between nine and 18, focused on fitness, ball handling, footwork, finishing at the ring and shooting.
Kingston Basketball Academy founder and coach Andre Solomons started the program over ten years ago and it is now “one of the largest, if not the largest individual basketball skills program in Australia”.
Andre runs a number of training sessions, camps and coach development programs across the nation and has plans to expand across Queensland.
“The biggest thing for me is just developing more programs, not just for the players but for the coaches.”
Last year, Andre had the opportunity to train in the same gym as NBA players and “learnt a lot from the experience”.
The basketball fanatic starting playing when he was just eight years old, both with local club and representative teams.
He then went on to compete in America as well as Chile, before realising his passion for coaching.
“I have fallen in love with taking ordinary kids that have great work ethic and showing them the path of how to be a high-level basketball player.
“I am now partners/friends with some of the best trainers allowing me to be one of the most knowledgeable skill coaches in all of Australia.
“I have always been someone that values work ethic very highly as it is something that you can carry through your life hence our motto is “Hard Work Beats Talent”.
“I know every kid that commits to the program will be pushed beyond their limits and learn they are more capable than they will ever know.”
Now Andre is proud to say coaching and developing player and coach programs for the academy is his full-time job.
“I feel like the best thing about basketball is that regardless of whatever is happening in your life, it is a good escape.
“It’s good to have success by yourself, but better to have it as a team.”
