Mission

 

Blythe's Basketball AAU program's mission is to provide opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play basketball in a positive, teaching environment in which they not only get to play in tournaments against competition from throughout the greater Bay Area and beyond, but also improve their basketball skills with a heavy focus on skill training. Winning is always a desired goal, but the emphasis of working on individual improvement within a team framework takes precedence. This is accomplished in a positive environment by a trained staff of professionals with basketball and coaching experience, who share the same philosophy about how and what to coach and teach.

 

Children who learn good habits and positive values will take those and apply them in all aspects of their lives. In turn they'll teach others, including their own children, those same habits and values, passing them down from generation to generation. Through sports, Blythe's Basketball teaches life lessons, positive values and good habits that will serve young people now and into their futures. Hard work, dedication, teamwork, persistence, enthusiasm, delayed gratification, confidence through self-improvement, being proactive, leadership, listening skills and a sense of community are just some of those habits, values and lessons on which Blythe’s Basketball focuses.

 

Blythe's Basketball Director, Donovan Blythe, believes strongly in teaching from the bottom up, with an eye on player improvement over just winning games. He incorporates a heavy dose of basketball skill work with teaching of team fundamentals that serve his students well as they move on to other coaches and other teams, regardless of the system being run. Through basketball, Donovan invigorates kids to work harder, do things the correct way and push themselves outside their comfort zones, allowing them to realize their true potential, which is often beyond what they imagine. In turn, that spills over into their non-basketball lives and the lives of others around them, engendering greater self-confidence and self-worth.

 

Through Blythe's Basketball, children see dramatic improvement as basketball players while also learning the tools to live happy, healthy and productive lives outside of basketball.