Educate Train Believe Achieve (ETBA)

Project Name: Grow and Flow Scarborough, ON

Sports can be a tremendous unifying platform, bringing together people of varying cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds, and age groups. Sports can also be a safe haven and an escape. ETBA formally, East Toronto Basketball Association, initially began with the latter in mind. Beginning in the Galloway and Markum areas of Toronto, the organization sought to create a safe space for inner city youth who may have had talent but without a place to showcase their skill. The visionary for this program, Clunis Cleveland identified the need to use the program to bridge an educational gap to expand opportunities for participants. The program was expanded to include tutoring for the US-based

SAT exams and also provided travel opportunities to the United States. For Tashawna Higgins, the program quickly became a lifeline as she navigated the loss of a parent alongside aspirations of playing Division 1 basketball. The program’s impact was so significant that ten years later, Higgins is paying it forward as a trainer and coach.

Higgins shares, “We capture the minds of youth through fitness or physical activity - mainly basketball. Basketball is an outlet. However, we also offer tutoring, financial literacy, nutritional and mental health support; adding those elements makes that basketball player more well rounded.” The mental resilience and commitment needed on the basketball court can be carried into many areas of life. Conversations around confidence, self-love, and belief in oneself are consistent between participants and mentors. Beyond the technical skills, Higgins fondly recalls having small cultural exchanges like sharing her passion for dance and teaching the intricate footwork of Kompa - a Haitian dance.

ETBA will use SBCCI’s funding to retain consultants, particularly to support financial literacy and digital marketing. “We want to keep up with the times and with connecting to our community; we want to connect with the youth more, and they are online. We want to be visible and interesting,” said Higgins. She also shared that the team is now better equipped with knowledge regarding building policies and procedures, information that can be applied to future not-for-profit endeavors.