Hi 5’s “Hope thru Hoops” program began in 2015 when we started our first center in Ghatkopar (eastern suburb of Mumbai) YMCA basketball court with 120 children from the slums around. With successful methods and processes we were able to showcase our program to few individuals who got interested in partnering with us. The partners who came on board were Arnold School principal who generously allowed us to use the basketball court for the area program, MCGM (Mumbai municipal corporation) top executive in sports wanted us to implement a similar program in municipal schools, Government of Maharashtra at the orphanage, Gadge Baba Tribal school Trust and many more. Basketball courts were built in Tribal School, Motilal Nagar municipal School, Chembur Children’s Home and major makeover of the court in Dr. Ambedkar municipal school in Worli. Courts were upgraded with fiberglass basketball boards in many municipal schools. Hi 5’s basketball training combined with the life skills component in the curriculum makes every child to “succeed in game and in life”. Academic aspirations have gone one notch up among our children. The Hi 5 children who are now called “green brigade” are on a road to success and there is no looking back.

After 5 years we are at 1600 children in Mumbai and 2100 children overall including Hyderabad and Kolkata making it one of the largest grassroot basketball program for the underprivileged completely FREE

Hi 5’s speciality is about major emphasis on curriculum development for all levels – Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. Onsite and offsite rigorous training and certifications are a must for coaches. Laying out processes and systems in the most professional way so that children are tracked for attendance, grades in school, data and statistical analysis of each child’s playing history in tournaments during the year adds to the key structure of Hi 5’s methods. Children are trained 320 days in a year including summer camps and makes it one of the rigorous programs in the country. After 3 years of training, children are constantly winning tournaments and they are always placed at the top spot. Large tournaments, inter schools, invitational or state championships – Hi 5 children have stood out in the basketball fraternity in Mumbai. Many observers at the games have congratulated Hi 5’s unique style of play called “clinical team basketball” and many success stories to savor in Hi 5’s journey of basketball for the underprivileged.