Community Projects

Schools, Construction of courts and fields, etc.

Court Building

Basketball is inherently more infrastructure-intensive than is soccer. Where soccer can be– and is– played on any level field of grass, basketball requires a proper court. When TRIAD first arrived in southern Africa in early 2007, the kids who were playing had one serviceable court in one village. Any other youth who wanted to play found themselves on makeshift courts with surfaces of gravel and broken glass. Considering most children were playing barefoot, TRIAD found this unacceptable. Those who were interested in using basketball as a vehicle to teach and learn about HIV/AIDS deserved better. With the guidance of the NBA Cares program and the leadership of the WNBA’s Ruth Riley, TRIAD was able to build its first court in March 2009. Players no longer had to practice once a week at a court 40 kilometers away.  In order to increase interest and participation in TRIAD’s basketball program, we believed the old adage from Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” New basketball teams are already organizing in the areas around the new court.