Overview

PROBLEM — What Happens When the Ball Stops Bouncing Too many African Nova Scotian youth invest everything in basketball becoming a career, rather than using basketball to create a career. There are many factors that are creating this situation that, in all but the rarest of circumstances, results in these promising young men and women having done nothing to prepare for the inevitable day when the ball stops bouncing. In fact, everything leading up to this point eliminated, rather than enabled, the students’ capacity to avoid this situation CAUSE — Why Sport Becomes the Objective Versus the Catalyst From their earliest success, talented young athletes have the promise of a career in sport reinforced as being the single greatest source of joy and opportunity for them, their family and their community. The athlete’s talent, success and promise is regularly and widely celebrated and seems to be the only thing anyone wants to talk about. Almost immediately, they feel the responsibility of their family’s and their community’s hopes and dreams. The weight of this responsibility grows as the athlete progresses, with each success increasing the expectations of those around them, whether they are selected onto an elite team, recruited by a respected prep school or are offered a college scholarship. SOLUTION — Introducing The Futures Program An entirely new narrative is needed. Sport needs to be used as a vehicle for creating a promising future, and not be positioned as the future. This is the purpose of The Futures Program.