LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Starting June 15th, youth sports and athletic activities can reopen in Kentucky. Over the weekend, kids made sure they'd be ready for when clinics finally start back up at Hoop Dreams, an organization all about helping the next generation.
"We have a travel program where we take kids around the country to get exposure in front of college coaches," said owner Mike Scott. "We've probably put over 100 kids in college over the years. We started back in 2007."
However, just like other businesses, Hoop Dreams took a hard hit when the pandemic forced it to close.
"We had 180 members, and now we're down to like 60 or 70 last I checked," said Scott.
Scott is staying positive, though, when it comes to navigating mandated changes. Before, classes would typically have 25 to 30 kids. Now, it's reduced to 10. Also, they won't be able to allow too many visitors to stay and watch.
"It's definitely going to be a challenge, but we're going to try to work through it," said Scott.
To keep class sizes down, Scott says they'll only have clinics, rather than camps.
Of course, kids will be kids, and they're having fun, so how do you keep them from getting to close while out on the court?
"One of the things we took out of the training is the competitive part. We won't have the kids actually competing or playing against each other," said Scott.
Instead, kids will focus on skill work. With that, leagues are on pause. Scott hopes to bring them back in July.
