There are probably many people who would love a basketball court in their backyard, and some might actually build one, right after they get to that next level on Candy Crush. But, Joe Mosher of Halifax actually built one and now, just a few steps from his house, he’s using it to help bring the dreams of young athletes closer to reality.

Mosher, a well-known name in local basketball circles, credits the game with more than just keeping him in shape. As a teenager in the ’90s, an injury ended his own aspirations of playing basketball on a more advanced level. Soon his marks dropped and his increasingly poor behaviour ended with him being expelled from high school. He eventually went back, but things really started to turn around when he agreed to help coach younger players. Almost immediately, his grade average shot up and he went on to university, eventually becoming an elementary school teacher.

Coaching basketball has remained a focus in his life, and every day he’s looking for new ways to share the sport with young people in Nova Scotia. He says the biggest challenge has been the cost of court rentals. When he started his own coaching program, Work Basketball – Skills Training, about five years ago, he was losing money just renting space, so last year he decided to borrow money and build his own court. It was a business risk that has paid off. Since then, Mosher has been able to train more athletes, and business is booming. It’s a full-time summer job, he says.

Mosher offers his players “a lot of individual help,” regardless of skill level, and while his youngest student so far was only four years old and not quite ready to turn pro, he can include two NCAA players, and dozens of other college players, both male and female, amongst those he’s coached.

Mosher is sensitive to the cost of programs and offers individual training for $20 an hour. Every August he runs Joe’s Camp, a non-profit, invitational bantam elite basketball camp that costs only $40, and includes lunch, a t-shirt and a basketball. Participants receive instruction from some of the province’s top coaches and players.

By Cathi Stevenson