This summer we are so excited to announce that we will have Virtual basketball events with four distinct and incredible partners. We are thrilled to continue working with USA Basketball, The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), Paul Biancardi (ESPN’s National Recruiting Director), and for the first time Virtually with the the Jay Bilas Skills Camp!
So, how did we get here?
On March 30th, 2020 our business officially shut down due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. At first we had no idea what to do or how we were going to get through this obstacle… well, us and every other “in person” business in the world. Then, it hit us. We decided to run “at-home” workouts on Instagram Live. This is where the journey started.
PSB Lead Trainer, Cristian Barber, began leading live workouts from his backyard every day Monday through Friday. At first we had thirty to forty people joining in, we could only hope they were working out with us and not just sitting on the couch watching. These workouts consisted of ball handling drills that could be done in a small space (5-7 feet) and these were combined with high intensity functional strength movements to challenge the players for thirty to forty-five minutes.. Not only were they improving their skills, they were getting stronger and smarter.
After a few weeks we began seeing more and more people join in to the point where we were consistently seeing over two hundred people per live workout! Kids began posting videos of their workouts live with us and shared with their friends the hard work they had been putting in. In a tough time where we were all quarantined and out of touch we found a way to connect virtually and get young players active, motivated and have fun while doing it.
This is when we knew we were on to something…
After seeing the reaction from our audience we decided to go all in. We were not going to let the pandemic stop us from our mission to change the culture of youth basketball and we had the opportunity to help players get better and stay positive through an obstacle none of us had ever faced.
We also knew our product was different than some of the other popular basketball apps and platforms like HomeCourt. This is because we do full workouts with the athletes. Our trainers actively do the workout so they know what the athlete on the other end of the screen is feeling.
We began building our first ever Basketball Training App, PSB+. At first, it began in living rooms moving furniture and recording workouts on a phone before we would edit and add music over them. We simply started making workouts, not exactly sure how to do it or where it would take us. We simply knew we needed to do something. What began as workouts in a living room on an iPhone turned into building out a studio at our PSB Headquarters with a professional camera and microphone as well as professional lighting. We added matting to the office floor and sound proofing panels to the walls, our studio was ready, there was no turning back.
Paul Biancardi Virtual Showcase
As we continued to run live workouts we began to talk with possible partners about events we could do. It started with Paul Biancardi where we ran a college showcase for boys (and later one for girls) in highschool who were looking to get recruited to the next level. We had over 80 players join with over 60 Division I, II, and III coaches watching in a zoom meeting. Our trainers led the workout live from the studio leading the players through a high intensity workout showing their footwork, strength and most of all work ethic. We saw multiple players commit to colleges as a result!
USA Basketball Virtual Skills Camps
Our next partner event came with USA Basketball where we lead live workouts as USAB Coaches like 10x Gold Medal winner Don Showalter would join in and give live coaching and feedback to the players. These events even saw players like Jayson Tatum and Kelsey Plum make featured guest appearances! These events went so well we decided to create a three month winter program in partnership with USAB where we led live workouts with over fifty kids twice a week for three weeks a month January through March. Through this extended time with these players we were able to build on concepts and see remarkable improvements with the young athletes!
NBPA Virtual Basketball Clinics
As our virtual journey continued we joined forces with The National Basketball Players Association to run virtual basketball clinics with NBA Players joining in live to hangout, give feedback, and answer questions with the campers! Our first event was with Bam Adebayo and we saw over seventy young players join in to get a great workout with the NBPA and connect with Bam Adebayo, check it out HERE!. Our next event was with Michael Porter Jr. and we again got to see young players push themselves to get better and have the chance to interact with one of the NBA’s rising stars! We cannot wait to announce who is next!
Jay Bilas Skills Camp
Now, we find ourselves looking to the future as we have the opportunity to partner with Jay Bilas and the Jay Bilas Skills Camp to run and operate the camp Virtually to reach more kids than ever before!
This Virtual Journey has been one we did not see coming. We have been able to impact young players across the world from Canada to California, to Guatemala and back to Philly. We are proud to look back and say that adversity hit and it hit hard, but we did not back down. We adapted and overcame, we got better each workout and now find ourselves stronger than ever in 2021!
All of these events are FREE for PSB Members! Check the Team Membership Page for your Free Code!
To learn more about our Virtual Experience you can visit our website HERE or check out our Online Basketball Training App and start a FREE 14-Day Trial HERE!
