Scotty Mac Basketball Website Almost Finished

The Scotty Mac Basketball Website is almost fully completed. This website will unable participants to see photos of the camp, access this blog, see camp schedules, updates, news, coaches profiles, testimonials and our generous sponsors. If you have a chance please check out:

www.scottymacbball.com

Munro Clan: Jessica Lynch 2 Time All Canadian

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to University Of Regina Forward, 2 Time All Canadian and 1st Team Canada West All Star, Jessica Lynch. She played a inspirational final against the SFU Clan. Completing a brilliant career , Jessica (a first cousin of the Mackinnons) will hopefully be helping out at the Scotty Mac Basketball Camp this summer. Congrats Jessica , our family is so proud of you.

University Updates 1

This is a long overdue update about what is going on with Comox Valley Basketball Players at the post secondary level:

1) Calvin Westbrook: After completing two years at California State University of Stanislaus has since transferred to Langley and the powerful Spartans of Trinity Western. Having to sit out this past year because of CIS transfer rules, big things are expected from this Vanier Alum and his versatile game.

2) Ryan Mackinnon: Having just completed his sophomore season at the University of Victoria, two year starter Ryan Mackinnon will be looked upon to lead the Vikes back to nationals next year. As the leading returning scorer, Ryan will be asked to shoulder much of the offensive output for the vikes.

3)Nick Adair: Having played this past year at Camosun College in Victoria. Nick has committed to play for the Vikes next year. Along side Ryan this Comox Valley duo will be worth a trip up the island.

4)Keenan Milburn: Had a tremendously successful rookie season playing for the SAIT Trojans of Calgary. Leading his team in scoring at 13.3 Points per game , this dead eye shooter shot 80% from the free throw line. A key ingredient to the Trojans success, Keenan and Isfeld Coach Colin Cunningham should be extremely proud.

5) Simon Dakin: Playing for the Royal Military Paladins, he has been their most consistent offensive and defensive threat. Averaging 10 points per game and nearly 10 rebounds. He is a double double threat nightly. Competing in a very competitive league that includes nationally ranked Carleton and Ottawa. Simon has excelled and exceeded expectations.

My first impression of Smokey Mountain

I sent this email to my parents and my family about an hour after a day long visit to Smokey Mountain.


In this email, in no way am I trying to downplay the serious problem that the residents of smokey mountain face. (disease, hunger, shelter, education etc...). They just taught me something today that i should be a lot more thankful for!


I am sitting in my room right now honestly just thinking to myself how lucky i am to have such a wonderful family. Today was probably the most humbling experience of my entire life. An american friend of mine who i work with asked me to come along with him this weekend to go check out smokey mountain (tondo) where he has been volunteering and raising money for the last three years. smokey mountain ( i know john took his immediate family their twenty years ago) is literally a garbage dump (the dirtiest garbage dump i have ever seen ) that thousands of filipinos call home. Bamboos shanty's lined door to door covered in mud, dirt, feces and garbage. Thousands of filipinos living on top of each other fighting each day to survive. Ten year old kids scrambling towards full dump trucks fighting to get the bottles and cans that fall off the truck.(this is their only source of income).I would love to try and describe the sights, sounds , smells and immense poverty that is situated their in more detail but i would never be able to do it justice I went to smokey mountain with expectations of sadness. Unhappy people, living unhappy lives. How could they be happy they have nothing! No Food, possessions, money. I was expecting to find people wallowing in the sadness that they ultimately deserve to wallow in.

But this is not the case in smokey mountain.... i was met with only generosity, smiles, laughs, handshakes, hugs!!! Kids, men, women, husbands, wives met me with questions, positivity , endless laughter and smiles that would warm your heart. I walked around bewildered wondering how people in these conditions could be so happy and positive. I participated in a soccer game where kids put rocks in plastic bags and kicked them around, forts built out of our waste housed little girls throwing parties(to which i was lucky enough to be the guest of honour). These people have nothing! I felt like crying but their was nothing to cry about. If i would have walked in a park in the picturesque comox valley would the people their have been any happier. I honestly do not know.

i could not figure out how the people that lived on smokey mountain could be so happy. So i started to ask. The only resounding answer i got was family.

Family they all told me! I began to realize just how lucky i was. Not because i have more money than all these people combined, not because i have an opportunity that they will never have. but because, like them i have a wonderful family that loves me unconditionally. We spoke of each others families, told stories, laughed about our hectic brothers, crazy cousins and funny aunts and uncles. They never wanted me to feel sorry for them. They never wanted a hand out , all they wanted was a relationship. An encounter where they could share stories of their fortunes, good times and triumphs which in the end was their families. And they wanted to hear about mine. grandmothers introduced me to their grandchildren, proud as can be. Older brothers watched as their younger brother made shot after shot on their broken basketball hoop mentioning to me that they taught him everything. I just began to realize how lucky we all are. To be able to have a family where hornby trips, camp david, nancy's place, basketball games, soccer games, wine and beer on any deck, swimming and rafting adventures, sing a longs, trips to richmond, shopping trips, cousins voyaging to boracay, and countless moments of laughter fill all of our memories.

my buddy richy (who i think hughie has adopted as his fifth son) told me in the vancouver airport before i departed for the philippines that he had never met a happier family in his entire life. i feel blessed that i am able to call myself part of that family and to be able to spend time with each and everyone of you guys.

i guess all i really wanted to say is that i love you guys and we all should feel so lucky to have each other!!!!!!!!!!


scotty

HOOPS FOR HOPE A SUCCESS

To the Comox Valley and all supporters of Basketball Worldwide,


In the true spirit of christmas, on December 19th/2008, I was able to have the most gratifying experience of my life. With over 200 pairs of running and basketball shoes donated by our generous community the Comox Valley. Ben Compton ( Head of NGO We International) and I headed to Smokey mountain, Manila, Philippines. Rightfully named Smokey Mountain this landfill that is habitated by over 250 families and 4500 people is constantly on fire as garbage, rubbish and anything you can imagine is burned off. The pictures above are of the youth that attend the Youth Centre established to rid the cycle of poverty within Smokey Mountain. Watching these kids delicately snatch their new pair of shoes with a smile stretched across their faces was inspiring to say the least. Signing autographs, giving hugs and shaking hands. It was not hard to realize who the real heroes on this day were. Ben and I were very blessed to experience this and it was made possible by the all the generosity shown within the Comox Valley and Scotty Mac Basketball Camp participants and parents.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart,


Scott Mackinnon

Hoops For Hope

Hoops for fun… and for hope





Former Highland player shares skills at camps, collects sports shoes for kids in the Philippines

Comox Valley Echo

Published: Friday, August 01, 2008
Scott MacKinnon, former Highland Raider basketball star left the Comox Valley when he graduated to attend the University of Lethbridge. But he comes home every summer to be with his family - which includes his three brothers - and run Scottymac basketball camps for kids. Scott's camps started from his passion for the game, for teaching, and for "giving back to the Comox Valley the good times and environment he and his brothers enjoyed, growing up in this community."
Scottymac basketball camps were held this week at Aspen Park Middle School for 9-10 year old roundballers, and at Highland Senior Secondary for ages 11-15. The youngsters camp was at Aspen from 9 am to 3 pm, with operations moving to Highland from 4 to 9 pm. All of Scott's roundball campers were issued a sharp looking jersey, all with the number 45 on the back.
"The significance of the number 45 has two roots," Scott said. "The first number, four, is in honor of my grandfather, Nev Munro, who was a basketball player for the 1948 Canadian Olympic team. "The second numeral, five, is in memory of Nate DaSilva."DaSilva was a former Vanier basketball player who died in a single vehicle auto accident when he fell asleep behind the wheel on the way to play a game. Besides the 12 hours of basketball camp a day, Scott is also busy with another passion, Hoops for Hope, one related to his work as a Physical Education teacher in the Philippines, at the Brent International School.
Having completed his first year teaching at Brent, following his graduation in Kinesiolgy from Lethbridge in 2007, Scott noticed a lot of filipino’s lacked proper footwear, so he started collecting basketball shoes from friends and acquaintances, new, used, whatever."They were coming out on the basketball court just wearing flip-flops or whatever they had," said MacKinnon. "Enthusiastic for the game, the coaching, and to improve, but totally ill equipped. There's a real need there, and a real surplus here. Almost everyone I know has at least one surplus pair of used shoes, and people have been bringing in pairs of good, usable shoes all week. Now, all I've got to do is get them to the Philippines."For helping out, or more information about Scott, his camps, and Hoops for Hope, look up the Scottymac website at; http://scottymacbball.blogspot.com