Milton, Ont. fitness trainer building hope in Ghana one basketball court at a time

Fitness trainer building hope in Ghana Hope Agbolosoo grew up in Ghana with dreams of becoming a basketball player, but he didn’t have the means.

TORONTO — Hope Agbolosoo grew up in Ghana with dreams of becoming a basketball player, but he didn’t have the means.

“The closest thing I got to basketball was taping a hula hoop next to the side of my house. We’d use balloons for the ball and it would take so long for the ball to come down,” he said.

The 21-year-old moved to Canada when he was 10 years old. He played basketball in Milton, until he broke his leg in high school.

“I realized I wasn’t the best at basketball and so I realized I had to find others way to play the sport because I loved it so much.”

Agbolosoo went back to Ghana a few years ago to run basketball camps for some of the local kids, but the courts were in worse shape than he remembered and unsafe.

“When I finished the camp, I was trying to figure out ways to give back to the community, to give back to the place that I grew up in,” he said.

He launched a fitness company in Milton called Hope Fitness, where he trains kids.

He also founded “Project Hope” with a goal of building basketball courts in communities across Ghana.

He’s already built two courts in Ghana with his saved-up money — one in his old neighbourhood and the other at his dad’s former high school.

“I want to make sure that they can find basketball and play it too, because basketball is a vehicle that can take you places,” he said

For Agbolosoo, the project isn’t about turning kids into pro-athletes. It’s about keeping kids engaged, healthy and giving them opportunities.

Project Hope has a GoFundMe goal of $20,000.

With the funds he’d like to build more courts and provide kids with balls, shoes and uniforms.