Heroes Basketball
The Heroes Basketball Program offers two youth programs in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex – Heroes Select Basketball Teams and the City of Dallas Parks & Recreation Heroes Developmental League. Both share the same goal: Reach as many kids as possible with constructive opportunities – to participate in and learn the finer points of team sports as well as educational and cultural curriculums to give them hope for a much brighter future.
In 2005, Dallas Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson’s Assist Youth merged into the Heroes Organization, forming Heroes Basketball. Heroes sponsors two inner-city leagues called the Heroes Developmental League (HDL). These leagues are managed primarily through Dallas Parks & Recreation. Heroes funds the infrastructure, providing referees, gym time, uniforms and basketballs.
The Heroes Foundation also sponsors four Elite teams that travel from March to July to the nation’s best tournaments. Players are chosen based on character and basketball talent. The 2009 Heroes 17-under team won 65 of 75 games, capturing the Great American Shootout championship in Denton and reaching the Elite 8 at the Main Event in Las Vegas. Heroes team members also participate in Special Olympics clinics, the “Prepare for College” Fair and the Future Heroes Program, which features a Heroes team member spending a half day with a business executive.
