Breakfast Brainstorming to Basketball Camps

…Where Players are Made

part 1 of 10

All great ideas start around the dinner table. Or in our case the breakfast table. In fact, most of the biggest and best decisions we’ve made have been at the breakfast table. There might be something to that – the mind is fresh and the belly is full!

In 2009 a friend of ours, Sarah Vickio, was engaged to be married and her fiancé needed a place to stay. We had an apartment above our garage and were happy to welcome in this new friend who we’ve never met before but if he is good for Sarah, he would be good for us.

Around that time I was going to work out at the YMCA and checked in with one of my favorite people, Ms Alin Buckley. She says hello and looks to the guy standing next to me and says “You guys need to meet each other! You are both college basketball players who love Jesus and want to get involved in ministry.” I looked at him and said,

“Any chance your name is DéRonté?” 

And the rest is history. We were, and are, very like-minded. So we helped move DéRonté in and got to know him a bit. Which means he and I were spending HOURS every day talking about the Bible, the church, and basketball. I was preaching full time and DéRonté was working at PNC bank but both of us had a love for hoops and had a desire to share that love.

As we sat at our breakfast table one morning talking about how we could give back and provide basketball training in our area, my wife, Brandi, chimes in,

“Why don’t you stop talking about it and just do it!?”

That was the origin of what became 3 summers of basketball camps in 2011, 2012 and 2013, then grew into a full court facility in Lewes, DE in 2014 and now in May of 2024 an additional three court facility in Frankford, DE.  This series of posts will provide some of the details, the ups and downs, the risks and rewards and the great people we’ve met along the way through 11 years at Factory Sports, Inc. 

So where is DéRonté now? After our summer camps, he took a coaching job at Central Christian College of the Bible where he twice was National Player of the Year. He then moved to Florida to coach the women’s team of IMG academy. From there he continued to pursue coaching opportunities in women’s basketball making stops at Bryan College, Lincoln University, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and now Hood College in nearby Maryland. 

I still consider him one of my closest friends that I lean on for advice, guidance and wisdom. I was a groomsman in his wedding, my second son Asher took his first steps with “Uncle ‘Ronté”, and we still share life’s experiences together. He has helped me through some of the toughest times of my life and I am grateful for our friendship.

That’s what sports can provide. The sacrifices are real. The focus, determination and excessive pursuit of progress can be exhausting. The wins are great and the losses often devastating. But the people we meet along the way and going through those peaks and valleys together can build bonds that last a lifetime. At Factory Sports it is our goal to provide a lasting positive impact on our community through the relationships built through sports. Sports aren’t the main things, but they can be a big part of the main things.

Until next time,

-Pat

 

Coming Up…

part 2 – The Factory Hoops Academy Summer Camps

part 3 – Factory Sports, Inc. Has A Location

part 4 – Year One of a Sports Business – 15 Hour Days

part 5 – Managing Growth & Getting Organized

part 6 – Hiring Full-Time Staff & Finding Balance in the Sports Industry

part 7 – Youth Sports were “Non-Essential” in 2020

part 8 – Factory Sports 2.0 Taking a Bigger Risk for Serving our Community

part 9 – Year One…Again – Opening a Second Sports Facility

part 10 – Factory Sports into the Future – Faith, Hope and Love