This is my story... and it’s a personal one

Hi, it’s Mano.

I’m often asked how it all happened, as I had no business standing on that stage.

This is my story… and it’s a personal one.

From an early age I loved the game and I dreamed of playing college basketball.

There was one BIG problem — I was an undersized point guard with average athleticism.

It didn’t help that no player from my high school had ever gone on to play college basketball. One of my coaches even told me I’d never be good enough and to give up on my dream. His exact words were, “Mano, I’ve seen players twice as good as you come through our program and they never went anywhere.”

He was trying to protect me from future disappointment, I think. 🙁

​​To say those words stung would be an understatement.

Despite all these things, through hours of training, lots of local summer camps, and nights spent studying NBA point guards, I became a pretty good player.

Unfortunately, ‘pretty good’ wasn’t going to get me a college scholarship. In fact, ‘pretty good’ didn’t even make me an all-conference player.

It was frustrating working that hard and not seeing the results I thought I deserved. Several times I considered giving up. I thought I had done everything possible and I didn’t know what else I could do.

Then, it happened.

My mom saw a small ad in a basketball magazine that changed everything.

The ad was about a camp called Point Guard College​​ that taught players how to ‘think the game’.

I didn’t even know what that meant or how it would help me.

A week later, a PGC brochure arrived in the mail which explained what it took to be a playmaker, lead a team, and run the show.

I was hooked.

Everything I read spoke to the player I desperately wanted to become. I knew I just had to find a way to attend.

Unfortunately, I lived in Canada and it would mean I’d have to fly (alone) to get to a camp. When you have a dream though, you don’t let anything stop you. I nervously got on the plane and flew to South Carolina.

It was five days of transformation.

I discovered how to become the player I was meant to be. I developed a vision of who I wanted to be as a person. I learned what it takes to truly lead a team. I gained the mental edge over my competition. I became a student of the game.

My confidence soared and the results quickly followed…

• In my senior year I was named all-conference.
• I was recruited by several college teams.
• I became the starting point guard for the University of Waterloo
• I became a 3-year team captain.

But, this story is not about my achievements. It’s about how PGC helped to unlock my potential.

These things didn’t come easy. There were still the frustrations, challenges, and tears. But through my five days at PGC, I discovered the mindset and resilience needed to persevere.

Then, after being flown across the country at the end of my junior year in college, I was invited onto the stage. Who would have ever thought an undersized kid from a small farming town would end up here.

I had been selected as an All-Canadian, one of the top 10 college players in Canada.

It was beyond anything I had ever dreamed.

Surprisingly, that’s not even the end of the story. After graduating, I had the chance to play and teach the game across four different continents. I spent eight years as a college coach at my alma mater. And then things came full circle when I had the opportunity to get involved with PGC.

Now, I help thousands of players each summer experience what I did all those years ago. It is my joy in life.

If you know a player with a passion for the game like I had, there is a place they need to go. It’s a special place like no other I’ve ever seen or experienced. And it has the potential to change everything for you, just like it did for me.

Yours in basketball,

Mano

P.S. If you need help choosing your PGC camp, just give our team a call at 1-866-338-2308 and we’d be happy to assist you.

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