“Never let someone take your confidence from you.”
— A PGC Grad Story —

I can still remember the noise and support that filled the gym on the night we played Jai alai (a PGC camp tradition that takes place on the final night). It was unlike anything I had experienced before.

But if I had to pick just one thing that changed the most after I left camp… it was that I had reignited my love for the game. In fact, the very next day after I returned home from camp, I made the choice that I would do whatever it took to play in college. That this is what I was born to do.

Two weeks before school started, I set up a meeting with my coach to share what I had learned over the summer at PGC and communicate my newest aspiration – to get a college scholarship to play basketball.

I went into the meeting excited, and I anticipated that he, too, would be excited for me. But, boy was I mistaken.

“You? Play in college?” he said. “You’ll never be good enough.”

Those words stuck to me like glue.

Now, the old me would have quit right then and there. But the new me made the choice to protect my confidence.

I ended up moving back to my hometown a week before my junior year. I spent early mornings and late nights in the gym, getting up shot after shot after shot. I had one goal in mind and nothing was going to stop me.

Returning home and transferring schools had its ups and downs. My new coach was extremely supportive of me and my dreams, which was great.

Of course, there were still setbacks and challenges but nothing could stop me.

Before PGC, I would have let some of the adversity I faced bother me. But PGC taught me to dream big, to set goals, and to pursue them relentlessly.

Despite the obstacles I faced, and being new to the team, I had a remarkable junior year and was fortunate enough to receive a lot of interest from college coaches.

I spent that summer before my senior year playing AAU ball, returning back to PGC, and receiving several college offers from different schools.

After countless days, weeks, and months of hard work, that September I accepted a scholarship to play collegiate basketball at Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska.

I DID IT!!!

I had achieved my dream of playing college basketball.

Those seemingly small steps had finally made a gigantic difference. And to cap it off, I scored my 1,000th career point at our home opener that year.

I used to be a person who let what people said about me dictate how I felt about myself. But after PGC, I learned to have faith in myself, to have faith in my abilities, and to never let someone take that away from me.

PGC taught me the importance of my approach and how to always find a way to rise above the noise, no matter the circumstances.

I won’t ever sit here and say that my journey has been easy, in fact, it’s been far from it. But it would have never been possible without PGC.

I am a proud PGC grad, and after attending and working multiple camps, I can truly say that PGC has changed my life for the better.

“Never let someone take your confidence from you.”

My name’s Tanyr Sornson, and that’s my PGC story.