Audio Blog: Victor Johnson of Fenix Basketball

Laurie: Alrighty. Hello, my name is Laurie Willoughby. I am an intern with the King County Play Equity Coalition and today we are joined by Victor Johnson. 

Victor: Hey, how’s it going. 

Laurie: Alright Victor, do you want to just give a brief background about yourself?

Victor: Yeah, for sure. My name is Victor Johnson. I am the Chief Experience Officer and Founder for Fenix Basketball in both Seattle, Washington and Tokyo, Japan. I also sit on the committees for the King County Play Equity Coalition for Facility Access and also the Fundraising committee as well. 

Laurie: Perfect. Today we’re going to be talking about AAU basketball and Victor’s experiences with that. So Victor, I guess to start off how long were you involved in AAU basketball?

Victor: Yeah. Well obviously before we could we start our program, I grew up in Los Angeles planning AAU basketball as a kid. Probably from like, I want to say, fifth or sixth grade. So I grew up as a player and then as I got older when I became an adult, definitely wanted to start my own program. And I had different values and I think that I thought would be more– I guess more– values and principles that I felt like I wish I had when it came to me being a part of AAU basketball programs. So basically my whole life if that’s the easiest way to answer that question. 

Laurie: Yup. Perfect. Okay so tell me about how your experience led you to create Fenix Basketball and how your beliefs or your thoughts now about AAU basketball. 

Victor: Yeah so obviously growing up in AAU and just like the youth basketball scene you don’t really know what you’re experiencing. I think after I got out of college I had that big question of “What do I want to do with my life,” right? I knew that I was passionate about youth. I knew that I love basketball. And I knew there was kind of a big issue with youth sport and for me I guess youth basketball and how it is being run. And so it was kind of an experiment, I actually created the Fenix basketball program based off of a finals prompt for a master’s program and it helped me kind of build the Fenix basketball program. But some of the issues that I kind of look back and felt like needed to be changed were you had a lot of coaches that were very passionate about basketball, very passionate about youth, first and foremost. Basketball is a game, baseball is a game, volleyball is a game, but in my eyes coaching is not a game. I think it’s a profession that you need to be well crafted in your communication and also the X’s and O’s and the practice, playing, there’s so many elements behind coaching. That’s so vital to the future of kids when it comes through emotional intelligence, their physical literacy. There’s a lot of elements that need to be very intentional. So you set up kids to be that confident, compassionate, socially responsible leader. And wherever they end up in the future.

Laurie: That’s awesome. Yeah, I’m also sorry just to pause, I grew up playing soccer, so what does AAU stand for?

Victor: It’s Amateur Athletic Union right. So, technically, it’s so weird. The basketball scene is so weird because AAU is supposed to be like the governing body. Back in the day they were sort of a governing body of basically a lot of sports. And for some reason AAU is supposed to be the governing body of basketball, but it kind of isn’t honestly. There’s not really an official governing body for select basketball. There’s nobody really overseeing and making sure that programs are doing things the right way and coaches don’t need to be licensed or certified or trained in any way. It’s kind of like a free for all. I can talk to somebody in a store, who doesn’t run a basketball program, they can go collect 10 kids at the local park and create a team and start competing in tournaments, which is an absolutely huge huge issue and that’s something that definitely needs to be changed. I think that’s something that people need to know. There’s not really an overseeing governing body that makes sure that kids are safe and that they’re protected in their sport experience. But it’s Athletic Amateur Union is the official. Yeah. 

Laurie: Wow, that is absolutely crazy. I feel like with soccer, so I also played club soccer. It sounds like there’s some parallels between being really like competition based. But, soccer, I don’t know why this is, but there –at least in Washington State– there is kind of like that governing body and coaches can get different licenses. And they have like those tests. But that’s fascinating. Especially like being able to create a team.  

Victor: Yeah, it’s definitely something that needs to change. Yeah, nobody’s gonna make sure you have insurance. 

Laurie: Oh my gosh. 

Victor: Yeah there’s a thing where there’s a AAU site and you have to register yourself in the AAU site, but it supposedly does like a background check and all that but, even when you sign up for tournaments, a lot of the tournaments that you participate in,they don’t even require your AAU number. You get like a unique number to make sure that you’re a part of like AAU clinical union. But it’s yeah, it definitely needs to be a little tightened up, I think.

Laurie: Wow, well thank you for informing me about that. I’m intrigued to hear how you think a sports based youth development type of basketball program would change and benefit like the mentality of youth athletics.

Victor: Yeah, so, I think, a sport based development system or model not only encompasses just like the AAU or the select basketball portion. It kind of creates this balance amongst all levels for full on participation and competition. It’s been just really creating that joy for youth through basketball in whatever capacity they want to be. There are a lot of things we can definitely change with AAU basketball. There’s like up the governing body portion of it. There’s the coach’s element of being trained. There’s like helping parents navigate their experience and not really falling for that pressure like ‘my kid doesn’t play for a top basketball program then they’re not going to even make their high school team or for sure not to take it to the next level in college if that’s what they want to do.’ But there’s just a huge imbalance, and a lot of cities right now. So with basketball in say Seattle, I mean if you were a kid that wanted to play basketball and you haven’t navigated yourself in the select basketball world. See, rec basketball leagues are provided in the winter only. That’s the same time of school basketball, so it’s in the winter. So a lot of times if you’re a kid that can or you haven’t really gained that skill set and competence to play at a more competitive level though. If you’re not playing in the winter that’s the only time you’re guaranteed a basketball experience in Seattle. And so a lot of times, especially in the winter, you’ll find kids playing on a rec team, a school team, and a club team, which is also pretty harmful when it comes to development as well. And so, when it comes to the SBYD model, I think there needs to be a systemic change amongst the whole city.

I feel like everyone should work together. The parks, the schools, hopefully the governing body of AAU basketball when that becomes a thing. To make sure that kids are just able to play basketball, not year round but it can be accessed a little more year round, and also within AAU basketball. That’s where you have your most experienced basketball coaches and trainers. That’s the world where they kind of were attracted to. Maybe also there was more a high quality program like coaches and trainers, even just at the local level, because not everybody can afford a basketball experience or even travel to practices and games every week. And you know that’s a model you’re seeing a lot in even other countries, especially like in Europe. They’re really big on skill development and not having like three or four basketball games in one day and tournaments every weekend. I feel like becoming a really good basketball player, it’s not based on how many games you play, but you got to get in the gym on your own and focus on skill sets that you want to improve on and then the game is just really the time that you get to showcase that. So I think if we had more opportunities for kids to play basketball at different levels, maybe more open runs, you have your skill development opportunities, and then you have your competitive opportunities as well. And being able to train and pay coaches at every level would also make it a much better experience so kids can really just have fun and be able to navigate how far they want to take the game in their life.

Laurie: Yeah. That is such a good point. I feel like money really consolidates all the coaching talent but also the players talent into these teams, and if everything was just more equitable and as you say more spread out, then we wouldn’t have all this pressure put on select basketball,  and then therefore we wouldn’t be burning out young athletes or putting them in harm. 

Victor: Oh, for sure. And there’s been so many articles, and the two biggest articles of NBA players that comment on AAU. The ones I can remember Kobe Bryant –come on, legend. I’m from LA so that’s like a god to me. He always talks about how AAU basketball is killing us. He’s talking about how many games are being played without coaches actually teaching kids how to play the game. Then you have LeBron James saying, straight out, that –I mean I can’t curse on this– but he said AAU coaches don’t give a EFF. So, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, arguably two of the best players to play the game, can stand back, look at the youth basketball experience, and say, ‘Oh, this is really bad.’ If they’re saying that, then there must be an issue. And then you have like the statistics of select sports being a $19 billion industry. But with King County right now, only 19% of King County youth get the daily requirement of 60 minutes of physical activity. $19 billion versus 19%, which means there’s a huge focus on select sports and a complete lack of support in just funding and high quality programming for all sports at other levels as well. 

Laurie: Yeah, you have like a densely packed group of people paying a lot of money. And it’s not benefiting a ton of youth. So it’s tough to defend especially when, as you said, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have so many critiques about AAU basketball. 

Victor: Yeah, for sure.

Laurie: Well, we have covered a lot so far. Do you have any other thoughts?

Victor: Let’s see. What’s something that I really want to leave on this? I think the lens that I want people to see this, or hear this, this audio blog session. I think people have to remember how young America is and even in the last year, 18 months or so with the whole COVID pandemic and Black Lives Matter, stop Asian hate, just all the things going on. I think what people have learned is there are a lot of systems that are in place right now that definitely needs to be changed in every industry. And youth sport is one of those industries that need a big reimagining or remake. Because I think it could just be much more much healthier for everybody, for parents. I do put a lot of pressure on parents. I think we’re not giving a lot of coaches opportunities to see youth sport as a pathway. Oftentimes when players are done playing, society tells you ‘well you’re not going to be able to make money in youth sports.’ And that’s why a lot of people go to the AAU route. Maybe also we can take care of our athletes a little more after they’re playing. And then also just remember it’s all about the kids. Sport is the ultimate mechanism for kids to develop an emotional intelligence and physical literacy. There’s a huge reason why you’re seeing a lot of kids in this generation and this age suffering from a lot of depression and anxiety. And so I think once we can restructure youth sports and make it better off for everybody involved, I think, you’re going to see a huge shift in the health and well being for youth, but also just making it easier for parents and anybody that wants to be involved in youth sports as well. So that’s something that I would want to leave.

Laurie: Perfect. Well, I think that was a fantastic way to wrap up our discussion of AAU basketball and hopefully the future of select basketball and select sports in general. Thank you so much Victor for sharing all of your experiences and your thoughts today.

Victor: Thank you for having me. This was fun.