University of Guelph-Humber

The sounds of shoes squeaking and plump orange basketballs dribbling on the gymnasium floor filled the air, as children’s laughter resonated throughout the hallways of the Humber Fitness Centre at Humber College. Welcome to Camp 905 – a basketball camp put on in partnership by the University of Guelph-Humber (UofGH) and the Mississauga-based Raptors 905.

As the Official Education Partner of the Raptors 905, the university and the NBA G League team hosted two camp sessions, one in Brampton from Aug. 12-16 and the other from Aug. 19-23 at Humber College, with a session at UofGH. The university sponsored 10 camp spots over the two weeks to give back to the community, so no child is benched out.

The goal? Giving children a memorable experience where they could bond over the love of the sport and participate in educational enrichment opportunities hosted by the university. Now that’s a three-pointer!

“It’s great to be part of a school that cares about the community,” Mark Santos, UofGH Business alum (class of 2008) and father to a seven-year-old camper, said. “It being a fairly new school compared to a lot of universities, I was happy to see that there was a collaboration there. [It’s] a proud moment.”

Each week, there were roughly 30 campers between the ages of seven to 14. Helping with these young basketball enthusiasts and camp staff during the educational activities were UofGH faculty members from the Psychology, Kinesiology, and Media & Communication Studies programs, as well as student volunteers. Some of these academic adventures included learning about physical evidence and fingerprinting in crime scene investigations, athletic assessments in the kinesiology labs, a tour of the Guelph-Humber media studios, and more. Special mascot guests Stripes from the Raptors 905 and UofGH’s very own Swoop also made an appearance, met with roars of cheering and applause.

Camp 905 is truly a win-win for kids and students alike.

Third-year Early Childhood Studies (ECS) student Alex Galit said the experience was “fun” and it reinforced why she’s passionate about working with children. “I think it helps me get out of my comfort zone to physically be here and then see different types of personalities, and all the goals that [the kids] want to achieve, and it really confirms why I want to be in ECS,” she said.

This camp partnership also gave students the opportunity to sharpen their leadership skills and receive co-curricular credit – something that third-year Kinesiology student Matthew Cioppa is excited about, along with proximity to the sports organization. “They’re a prestigious organization, professional sports team. And a lot of us here join [the kinesiology program] for the purpose that we love sports and activities. So, for the students especially, it's exciting to work with the big leagues,” he said.

Parents also recognized the value of the partnership and share in the children’s joy. For father Mark De Castro, he never had “a lot of these opportunities” growing up, and it has allowed his son to forge new friendships with other players and receive mentorship from coaches that “he’ll cherish for the rest of his life.” 

“This whole week that my son's been here, he's going to remember this for sure because he's already talking about it every day, and he's asking me when the next one is,” De Castro said, with a smile on his face.