ORIGINS OF HOOPS SPORTS PERFORMANCE (February 2024)
BLOG 2
Our Journey from Humble Beginnings
- Julian Soco, Director & Head of Performance
Hoops Sports Performance first began in September, 2021. Initially, HSP was just myself and a basketball focused strength and conditioning program that was created during the time of basketball representative trials to develop the strength and speed for a few local Sydney youth basketball players that wanted to make to rep level basketball. You guys know who you are!
The first few hoops academy training sessions started outdoors at a local park in Rhodes, Sydney, since most of the gyms were still closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown. The youth players were always excited to train as they really wanted to do what most basketball players want to do, which is to jump higher, sprint faster and become stronger to ultimately dominate their games. As a coach that just started off with these youth athletes and eager to help them with their athleticism, our outdoor strength and conditioning sessions went ahead every week for a few months even on the days that were scorching hot and wet.
We continued the outdoor training for a few months irrespective of how hot or wet the weather was. As a coach, my only intention was to get started with these youth athletes to help them become the best versions of themselves. I developed testing protocols that could be done outdoors and specific strength and conditioning programs to progress and help these different levels of athletes with their Movement, Strength, Speed, Power, Agility and Conditioning. The consistent work with these athletes, started showing the improvement in little movements on the court of these players. These five physical qualities shape our five pillars of athleticism at Hoops.
Very soon our youth athletes as well as others realised their new athletic performances, making it to the rep level they set and physically excelled on the court. With these little wins, the Hoops community of athletes grew each each week, developing a variety of basketball players within the Sydney area. Today, Hoops has grown with a diverse and passionate team of strength and conditioning coaches, a sport scientist, physiotherapist, and business team that has made a positive and lasting impact to more than 1000+ athletes in NSW.
We are deeply grateful for every single person who has been a part of our Hoops community. Our athletes, coaches, parents and partners, that we’re able to develop all levels of basketball players from scratch to the rep level, NBL1 and even the State/National Level. We are committed to giving quality services to our athletes and family, as we focus on being creative and providing the highest quality of strength and conditioning services to all basketball players and athletes in Sydney.
