Who We Are:
Our team of professional coaches and educators have been delivering innovative and efficacious youth sport, leadership, coaching/teaching development and educational enrichment programs in Durham Region and beyond for more than 20 years.
We hold interdisciplinary backgrounds and have experience working with diverse groups of students, athletes, coaches, teachers, teams, schools, organizations and communities. In addition to our work at 360btg, we are parents, professional educators (working in primary to post-secondary education), researchers, experts in the field of leadership and high performance coaching, athletic trainers, and athletes.
(Image above: 2024 NBA Champion and Boston Celtic Al Horford speaking with Dr. Omar Salim (360btg Co-Director of Coaching Development) during an NBA event in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The two are discussing the importance of a holistic (or 360 degree) approach to sports, leadership and life.
Our coaching development team and head coaches hold notable playing and/or work experience at the collegiate levels (NCAA/CIS/OCAA) and/or professional leagues (NBA/FIBA).
Our 360btg programs are guided by evidence informed research along with the Canada’s Sport for Life Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) framework to design and deliver efficacious learning environments.
What We Believe:
We believe… ‘why’, ‘how’ and ‘who’ you learn from is as important as ‘what’ you learn. We take an inclusive, full-circle and evidence-based approach in which our leaders and coaches strive to model excellence in character and competence.
We believe… a holistic (or 360 degree) approach to sports, education and leadership enrichment offer both young people and adults the best opportunity to learn, unlearn and re-learn toward unlocking their potential.
We believe… a healthy and thriving learning environment requires the support and challenge of the entire community – parents, coaches/teachers, peers, family members, among others. We learn ‘how to be’ most powerfully in community!
(Image above: 360btg League & Camp Coaching Co-Director Juan Vasquez (Cuban National Team player and retired professional basketball player) sharing stories with camp participants about his positive experience playing against NBA All-Star and two-time league MVP Steve Nash during the international pre-Olympic qualifying tournaments).
We believe… in a home, school, team, workplace, community or planet – every person matters, every person has the potential to learn and lead, and every person holds the power to create an equitable, peaceful and sustainable planet! Our organization strives to support young people and families dealing with financial challenges through our community resources and MDT scholarship program.
Our Coaching & Learning Philosophy:
We employ a full-circle or 360-degree approach to learning, sports and leadership enrichment with the aim of helping young people learn how to make sound choices and to strive toward excellence in character, competence and collaboration – within and beyond the game!
Drawing on Canada’s Sport for Life Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model, our comprehensive approach recognizes that young people are best supported when they can recognize, strengthen and leverage their choices, values and diverse human intelligence (IQ, PQ, EQ and SQ) toward the betterment of self, others and world.
This holistic approach to challenging and nurturing young people’s multi-dimensional capacities is support by today’s contemporary social science research but also acknowledged by the pre-modern traditions, philosophies and religions of the past.
As Aristotle reminded us over 2000 years ago and today’s neuroscience research confirms: “We are what we repeatedly do [and why/who/what we surround ourselves with]. Excellence [in character and competence], then, is not act, but a habit”.
A Full-Circle Approach to Sport & Leadership Development
Why Parents Choose 360btg…
(Image above: former 360 player and Head Coach Cienna Walker (Academic Honour Roll Pickering High School, GTA’s Fab 50 Female Players & University of Minnesota (NCAA) helping young players at 360 basketball camp).
Beyond The Game….
The duration of a well played game is only a few minutes, while the journey for it may take many years of hard work and excellent character. Remember the real value of sport is not in winning or performing in the limelight of applause but by the virtues learned, practiced and lived within and beyond the athletic realm. The applause soon fades away, the statistics forgotten, the trophy is left behind, but the character, friendships and legacy you build are yours forever.
(Image above: former 360 player and now 360 League & Camp Head Coach Drazen Jerkovic (Academic Honour Roll Pine Ridge, Two Time Ontario High School Champion (OFSAA) and Dalhousie Tigers forward (CIS) helping players develop their form shooting at 2023 Summer Basketball Camp).