It has been a summer to remember! With tons of fun and exciting trips, great time spent with family and close friends, and lots of new experiences. Below are some pictures of the highlights of my summer.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

So the first stop on my trip this summer was to Amsterdam. I have always heard that Amsterdam was a fairly wild and liberal town, but I never knew how beautiful it was with both the architecture and canals that ran through the city. It was also pretty neat that we could have a small WRCA Class of 2005 Reunion as two of my best high-school friends and basketball boys, Pete and Rob were able to spend a day out with our old Coach!

I will definitely be coming back to spend more than a day or two in Amsterdam and the beautiful surroundings!

The next stop on my big international trip was South Africa! Again, an absolutely incredible experience, touring around the beautiful city of Cape Town and the whole coast peninsula was simply amazing. I have never seen natural beauty quite like how the ocean and coastline come together there… I was very desperate to find a board and get in the water, but it just means I will have to make a return trip.

The more important part of our trip was working with Hoops 4 Hope in the local township communities running basketball camps for the kids and teaching life skills. A humbling experience that opened my eyes to the endless blessings we have in our lives. It was a unique experiences where I think us as players learnt and benefited as much or more as the kids!

Other exciting experiences included diving with Great White Sharks, going on two safari’s one of which I actually got to walk around with buck and rhino’s, visiting new family in Pretoria, and going to one of the biggest Rugby games of the year in Soweto!

So, after all of the traveling abroad, I came back home and was anxious to get some surfing in as well as enjoy some great summer events. The first picture is from my cousin Kris and his newly married wife Eileen’s beautiful wedding on Vancouver Island. From there, we headed up to Tofino to enjoy one of the hottest weeks in the town’s history… Besides Tofino, I made it down to the Oregon a few times as well as a road trip with my brother Eli to my favorite break in Santa Cruz. I would say on average I spent about 6-8 hours in the water on each of the respective trips. I am already looking forward to some bigger trips next spring and summer!

Finally, I have been so fortunate to spend so much time with my girlfriend Natasha. Whether it was going on surf trips, getting dressed up for friends weddings, or just hanging out and spending quality time with one another, I feel very fortunate to have her in my life!

Now it is on to the next chapter as I am entering into my final year of my MBA and just as importantly final year of collegiate basketball at TWU. I am so excited for our team and the year that we are going to have. I have never been with a group of guys that have been so committed and I think the sacrifices we are making for each other now will pay off down the road.

Along with my MBA I am also completing my NASM Personal Training Certification in hopes to work with high school athletes in developing their strength and conditioning for high-school and to prepare for University. I am also continuing my video editing business, specializing in creating Prospect Recruiting DVD’s again to help high-school athletes have the best opportunities to play Collegiate athletes and earn an athletic scholarship!

Thank you all for taking the time to read!

I am excited for this year and the opportunities and challenges that will create growth and learning! Of course in everything I continue to try and be a positive role model and mentor to those around me.

Peace and Love,

Tyrell

Firstly, thank you so much to those who commented, I appreciate the kind words, it is great to be supported so far away from home!

The last few days have been amazing. I finally got some pictures from the camps that we were running, and even though some of them are great, they truly do not do justice to the environment and experience that we all took away…

From start to finish the camps have been incredible, from driving through the slums and townships to get to the courts… The last couple days the courts have been outside in the middle of the township. Then to see all of the kids and how happy they were to be able to come together and play basketball and learn from some of the hoops 4 hope coaches was incredible. My personal highlight had to be the energy, love, and especially the dancing and singing… Man do these kids have rhythm. At the end of the camp they would all get together and sing and dance and run around and jump and hug everyone,,, wow that was powerful!

We also got to spend some time with some of the coaches who educated us about the situation that all of these kids are in and the true meaning of what hoops4hope stands for, which is educating and teaching these kids lifeskills through basketball. It was a great time together, he coach was so genuine and his words were all heartfelt!

So I have uploaded some more pictures, this is from our second camp, I have more on the way, hopefully get them up tomorrow… I will also tell a few more stories from our experiences with Hoops 4 Hope and working with these amazing kids!

Thank you again for reading and leaving your comments,

It is appreciated!!

Tyrell

Our group got a chance to go up Table Mountain and see the beautiful city of Cape Town from above. Man, what an amazing city and an incredible coast line. It was pretty cool seeing the swell lines running into all of the different points down the coast. It made a lot of sense why South Africa has some of the best surf in the world!

We also ran our first basketball camp today with Hoops4Hope. Wow, what an eye opening experience. The camp was outside of the city and as we started to leave the city we entered into the slums where thousands and thousands of small shacks sit side by side, seeming to barely stand up.

The gym was somewhat in the middle of the slums, but it was a great facility and the atmosphere was awesome. There were about 50 kids as young as 5 or 6 up to 12 and 13. There were also many Hoops4Hope coaches who had been through the program and now wanted to mentor and give back to the kids in the community facing the same challenges and struggles that they did. It was truly an inspiring experience, and I didn’t mention that all of these coaches who are teaching these kids and organizing a lot of the drills are only 17 and 18 years old!

I am definitely looking forward to tomorrow and getting to meet new kids and see a new atmosphere that Hoops4Hope have created to impact the lives of these kids in the community.

For now, here are some of the pictures from the tour today, I will try to take some pictures of the camp tomorrow amidst coaching and getting to know all of the kids there!

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to leave a comment!

Ty

Cal and Tonner hanging out overlooking the stadium…

Table Mountain from Below

Robbon Island where Mandela was imprisoned…

A courageous lady repelling down the side of the mountain!

Boys hanging out on Table Mountain…

Repelling Guides getting set up!

Tristan on top of the world…

Kyle improving on his Parkour moves… (More to come!)

Boys on top of the mountain…

Beautiful Table Bay

A look down the coast from above…

Kyle and Tristan…

We are a few days into our trip and have just made the long trip from Amsterdam to South Africa!

We did get a one day layover in Amsterdam so we got a chance to do some sight seeing and I got to take some pictures with the new camera which I really enjoyed!

Here are a few pictures from yesterdays stroll through the streets!

It was also great, one of mine and Rob’s best friends, Peter, was in Amsterdam already, so we got a chance to meet up with him and spend some time together!

Many of the pictures are just random shots, there will be much more team stuff over the next week as we start our work with Hoops4Hope here in South Africa!

** I should make a quick note, one of the pictures shows a huge pile of garbage, while we were in Amsterdam the garbage men were on strike so literally every block had mounds of garbage that was building up… Disappointing as the whole city was very dirty, but interesting to see as well!

Cheers,

TyrellClick to view slideshow.

If you get a chance, drive by or take a walk through… On 14oth street between 30th and 28th up the hill in South Surrey!

Here are some of the results!

Click to view slideshow.

Along with cooking the meal, all of the boys took time to do some team building activities. The guys are deep in thought above, doing the little things that will add up to a Championship next year!

Hanging out in the hot tub after a long week of practice!

After all the cooking, it was time to eat!

Finally,  A great meal around the fire! A successful night to end off a great training camp and the beginning to a new and exciting year!

I am going on a Missions Trip to South Africa in May with the Trinity Western University Men’s Basketball Team. We will be working with Hoops 4 Hope running clinic and building relationships with kids and communities!

In order to raise funds to make this trip possible, we have set up a webiste for anyone to visit and give donate any amount, even $5 will make a difference… Every player and coach has also written their story and why this trip is important to them… Here is a little exert from mine!

HomeComing!

After graduating, I had a very special and unique opportunity to come back to TWU, start a Masters degree in Business, and play college basketball for two more years. Again I look back to how amazing it all worked out, and it is a tribute to those who have helped me, and as it turns out, I get the chance to work with one of my biggest supports again, Coach Allen!

I have enjoyed every aspect of being at TWU, from my amazing teammates, athletic administration, and everything that the Complete Champion Approach stands for!

What I have enjoyed the most about Trinity is the emphasis on giving back to the community. I truly believe that this is what its all about! I have had the opportunity with our basketball team to travel to a remote tribe in Alert Bay and run clinics, work within our community, and fix glasses that were sent to those less fortunate by Iris, just to name a few…

It has been an amazing journey and I look forward to the upcoming trip to South Africa and all of the opportunities both big and small to help others and build our program!

South Africa

Okay, so to conclude – to say I am excited about the trip to South Africa is an understatement. I never would have thought or dreamed that we would have an opportunity to travel around the world and work with young kids and communities – using basketball as the channel to teach them life skills and build relationships.

What an amazing experience we are in for! I will be updating my facebook and twitter feeds while we are over there, I would love for anyone to follow along. Also, if you are able to help us with any donation, we all appreciate it. It doesn’t have to be a lot, even 5$ will make a huge difference in the end!

Thank you for reading and for all of your support along the way!

YOU are the reason why we are able to do this, and without you, we would not have this opportunity to travel the world and have a positive lasting influences on individuals and communities!

If you want to read more, and check out what it is all about, please visit:

http://impact.twu.ca/champion/champion.aspx?asset=128

I am excited for this opportunity to travel with a great group of guys, and ues our positive influence to be role models and leaders to youth and communities in South Africa!

Thank you,

Tyrell

Well, at an attempt to catch up with my IT generation I have began to work on my social media outlets: facebook, twitter, and now a blog… I haven’t put too much thought into this page yet, but will eventually document my trips and travel, current business projects I am working on, and also tips on health and fitness, which has been a hobby of mine for many years!

I hope you enjoy, please write with any feedback or comments, thank you!