Hamilton teen off to Halifax on a basketball scholarship, a 1st for local athletic program | CBC News

An athletic development program for racialized high school athletes in Hamilton is marking a major milestone as one of its participants heads to university on a basketball scholarship. 

Kibrom Kefte, who joined the Steel Town Athletic Club (STAC) last October, will depart Hamilton for University of King’s College in Nova Scotia on Aug. 27. 

It’s the first time a participant from STAC, which launched nearly two years ago, has received a sports scholarship.

Kefte, 19, credits his involvement with STAC for helping him get the offer.

“The experience at STAC has been amazing,” he told CBC Hamilton.

While Kefte was a “great” and “gifted player” when he joined the program, the experience with his coach helped him to develop communication skills “and just be a great person on and off the court because that’ll get me to be the best player I want to be,” he said.

“So, coming to STAC really showed me how to become a real leader.”

Kefte, who hopes to explore business for a future career, has enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts program at King’s.

Your time will come. Itreally takes time and it won’t happen overnight. I just got my offer in Grade 13.– Kibrom Kefte

In September 2021 Vincent Kuber — a personal trainer and run coach — launched the STAC program for racialized youth from 14 to 18 years old.

The program is offered in two streams — recreational and competitive basketball.

Kuber previously told CBC Hamilton that he wanted kids to be busy doing something, and that the end goal was to help them achieve their sports milestones, while taking away personal and team skills that they can use in life.

“The bonus would be for them to receive post-secondary opportunities to further their athletics and education,” Kuber added.

Earlier this week, Kuber said the program started with 15 kids in 2021. By September 2022, the number climbed to 80 kids. Today, around 300 kids are involved in the program. And, it’s free.

“We don’t charge these players anything because we want to give them the opportunity to display their skills in front of colleges and university recruiters,” Kuber said.

“Without this program that wouldn’t be possible because if you’re good, you have to start paying high level money to play on certain teams, and so that means that the kids in this area can’t progress because they can’t afford [it].”

Kuber said the STAC model “allows these players to accelerate and attain these opportunities.”

‘He did it on his own’

Kuber, who serves as executive director at STAC, says he’s constantly networking with recruiters with coaches at colleges and universities like McMaster and Mohawk to find post-secondary opportunities for kids.

“Kibrom specifically, we have been communicating over the fall and winter regarding his school grades to make sure that his grades are a certain level because if you don’t have certain grades, you don’t get into certain schools,” he said.

“Now he’s a very smart person himself, he didn’t really need much assistance with that, just some guidance on what’s to be expected down the pipeline so he’s prepared for it. He did it on his own with the open book of asking us for assistance at any time.”

Challenge to find gym space

Kuber said finding gym space is the biggest challenge the program has faced, adding that there is a wait list of 200 kids that they haven’t been able to accommodate.

With the demand from the community, he said STAC will look at possibly building its own facility, likely downtown.

“STAC only operates in the equity deserving communities of Hamilton, so the downtown community where we have families that face financial barriers,” Kuber said.

“We have a lot of newcomers in this area as well where they’re starting their life. There is no generational wealth to help them out. I was an immigrant back in the 80s myself, so I’ve been through all these challenges.”

Kefte plans to return to help STAC

Meanwhile, Kefte is already looking ahead to the future. He says after he acquires his bachelor’s degree, he hopes to play overseas, after which he’ll return to STAC.

“I do plan on coming back. I’ve spoken with Vince about this. I wanna come back and help him,” he said.

“We both are very keen on not charging kids for basketball because there are a few programs where they do charge kids tons of money … being one of those kids who didn’t grow up with the most amount of money, I do understand that having a fair opportunity is really, really key,” Kefte said.

“So, I do wanna come back and maybe one day help Vince with STAC, just build up STAC and just make STAC known as a program it should be.”

Kefte also has a message for racialized kids.

“Your time will come. It really takes time and it won’t happen overnight. I just got my offer in Grade 13. I went from Grade 9 all the way to Grade 13 without knowing where I’d play,” he said.

“So, I’ll tell those kids to just get into the gym, make sure you’re around people who do want to see you succeed … surround yourself with the coach that only wants what’s best for you and… just [work hard] every single day,” he said.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.