There are some young basketball players in Pasadena who are eager to get back on the hardwood at Pasadena Place.
Kelli Lannon, programs and special events co-ordinator at Pasadena Place, hopes to have some good news for them soon.
For the past years, the Town of Pasadena operated the Steve Nash Basketball Program (now changed to Junior NBA Basketball Program) out of Pasadena Place.
The program, held every Sunday over a 16-week period, provided an environment whereby young basketball players in the 5-12 age group could participate in a program geared towards skill development.
More than 100 boys ang girls, eager hoopsters from Pasadena and surrounding areas, participated in the program over the past two years.
The future of the program depends on volunteers to deliver it.
Former coach Don Keefe headed the program for two years, but due to other commitments he’s no longer able to commit the way he would like, so there is a void to fill with his absence.
Keefe, however, is a big fan of the program and has agreed to lend a helping hand when he can and has been looking around for coaches to get involved.
Lannon hopes to get a new volunteer coach in place over the next week or so because so many youth had a great time being a part of it. She’s been fielding lots of telephone calls from players and parents who want to know when it will start up again.
Lannon says it’s a program that has been well received and can become a fixture in the town with the help of volunteers. She said Keefe had a handful of dedicated coaches who helped deliver the program to the various age groups, but she’s not sure if anybody in that group is willing to take on a bigger role.
“We’re looking for somebody to take over that leadership,” Lannon said. “We can run all kinds of programs here, but it’s always better if you have somebody who knows the program itself so we want a basketball person to take it over.”
