How PGC Camps Impacted My Life
— A PGC Grad Story —

By Jay Yang (PGC Grad)

It sounds cliche, but PGC is bigger than basketball, it changed my life.

See, I’ve gone to 11 PGC basketball camps, and my friends often ask me two questions:

It’s really hard to describe, but I’m going to try!

What makes PGC special, at their core, is the culture.

The curriculum is amazing. But the culture, the energy, and the environment is next level. At the heart of PGC, is the people.

What’s amazing about the PGC directors is they know their ‘Why’. They’re incredible coaches, leaders, and people.

They embrace the ‘PGC Way’ and live out their purpose. You can tell they genuinely care about the well being of the athletes.

The directors pour themselves into us, with their passion & enthusiasm; just being around them is an enlightening experience. What’s fascinating about the PGC directors is you can tell they’re special when they walk in the room. The PGC directors foster a positive learning environment that helps us all strive for our own greatness.

The energy in the gym is insane. The competition is challenging, there’s a sense of camaraderie, and a sense of belonging. I wish I could share with you the essence of the PGC culture, and the PGC environment, but you have to be there and be a part of it to really experience it.

Another reason why I absolutely love PGC is their curriculum. It’s well thought out with a mix of classroom sessions, gym sessions, and recovery time.

As a player, I’ve learned how to be more patient & controlled, more crafty & creative, how to study and break down film, how to deal with mistakes & pressure situations, and how to think, train, and act like a student-athlete.

As a leader, I’ve learned how to get outside of myself & be more vocal, how to be effective with my communication, how to protect my confidence, and how to enhance everyone around me.

As a person, I’ve learned how to celebrate others early and often, how to eliminate excuses, how to create healthy habits, and how to think about who I want to become.

A few more big lessons I’ve learned from PGC are:

I’ve learned to be intentional with the way I want to show up & with my approach to obstacles and challenges. I’ve learned to invest my energy into others, to lean into what makes me uncomfortable, to dare to be different, to eliminate complaining, to always do extra, to be more disciplined, to eat healthier, to drink more water, to think the game of basketball, but most of all, to think the game of life.

The PGC sessions challenged me in every way, I left PGC feeling physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted — but in a good way.

My entire body was sore, my mind was opened from some of the basketball concepts, and I lost my voice from shouting so much.

Over the years, I’ve gotten so much value from PGC, my notebooks are full of life-changing concepts and lessons. I left my PGC sessions feeling inspired to get better and get after it, inspired to show up with a new energy and approach with my teammates, inspired to hold myself to a higher standard, but most importantly, inspired to be a better person.

The greatest lesson for me has been to ‘leave every environment better than you found it’ and I continuously strive to leave every physical environment, every person I meet, and every relationship I’m in better than I found them.

PGC has inspired me to be better, to be different, to SCHAPE myself and those around me, and I know that when the ball stops bouncing, I’ll have been a better person for attending a PGC session.

Again, it sounds cliche, but PGC is bigger than basketball, it changed my life.