Jun 28, 20232 min read

Hooper Mentality Back in Detroit

This year, not only did Hooper Mentality provide the annual Her Time To Play All-Girls Camp, they also offered their first-ever PeeWee Camp.

Every year, Hooper Mentality runs an all girls Her Time To Play Camp in Detroit. This year, they provided the first ever Hooper Mentality Pee-Wee Camp for campers ages 4-10!

Her Time To Play is a national initiative, with the support of the JrNBA, WNBA and NBA, that is dedicated to championing change on behalf of girls and women and providing them with ways to connect, collaborate, and actively engage with one another through the game of basketball. The camp features volunteer coaches that are collegiate players or coaches at local junior colleges. This year we had amazing coaches from Schoolcraft College Women's Basketball team and Madonna University's Women's Basketball team.

Coach Patty Medina, founder of Hooper Mentality, has coached basketball at many levels for more than 17 years. Like many athlete and child advocates, Coach Patty has watched with concern as youth sports participation has dwindled over the past decade, especially for girls sports. “There is no substitute for real life. Youth sports is especially vital for low-income kids whose families do not have the resources to offer them a wide range of enriching activities. That’s why Hooper Mentality targets these communities and makes the annual free or low cost.”

This year, Hooper Mentality hosted it's first Pee-Wee Camp in Detroit. This camp targeted boys and girls ages 4-10 years old. To maintain a low player-to-coach ratio, the camp was limited to 45 campers max but the waitlist had 80 total registered. The dedicated coaches and staff of the inaugural Pee Wee Camp emphasized cooperation, friendship and leadership while engaging campers with a variety of exciting, diverse, age-appropriate drills and activities involving basketball!

The camps are funded by the donations made to Hooper Mentality by businesses and individuals; the proceeds from all Hooper Mentality apparel sales; as well as, other organizations.

We would love to thank the Jr. NBA, WNBA and NBA for their donations of swag, giveaways and basketballs. Thank you to Detroit Parks and Rec for donating the gym space, daily lunch meals, as well as, the t-shirts for all the campers.

If you, or your company/organization, would like to be a sponsor or donor, please reach out to Coach Patty Medina at coachpmedina@gmail.com