HoopLife's Booth at I Love Regina Day, Recapped

HoopLife Basketball set up a pop-up booth in Victoria Park for I Love Regina Day on August 22, from 9 AM to 3 PM, working with Thrive in Your City as a partner on the event. A few hundred people stopped by to test their vertical jump, ask coaches questions and meet the HoopLife team, even with temperatures over 30 degrees and a lot of sun.

What Happened at HoopLife's Pop-Up Booth at I Love Regina Day

The booth was about three things: spreading the word about HoopLife in Regina, mentoring kids on the spot, and getting people moving. Working alongside Thrive in Your City made the day bigger than HoopLife could have run alone, with more hands to run the jump mat and talk to families as they came through. A jump mat gave live readings as people tested how high they could jump. The best jump of the day measured 32 inches, which held up as the top mark from open to close. People took photos throughout the afternoon, and plenty of them stopped just to ask coaches questions about basketball in Regina.

What stood out was that people kept coming despite the heat. It was over 30 degrees outside with a lot of direct sun, and the crowd never really let up. That is the part worth noting: a community event on a hot summer day still pulled a few hundred people through Victoria Park to talk basketball.

Who Coached at the HoopLife Booth

Coach Sufyan Elkannan worked the booth for HoopLife. He is a senior at the University of Regina, currently playing for the Cougars Basketball Team, and he spent the day answering questions from families and fielding the jump mat challenge. Having a current university player on hand mattered. He could speak directly to what it takes to play basketball through high school and into a university program, and he was a visible example for the younger kids stopping by.

One visitor was a teenager who plays volleyball and was just walking through the park. He stopped to check out the booth out of curiosity, tried the jump mat, and talked with the coaches about training even though basketball is not his main sport. That is part of what a booth like this is for: reaching kids who play something else entirely and giving them a reason to think about a gym like HoopLife's.

Why HoopLife Shows Up at Events Like This

The honest answer, from HoopLife's side, is personal. Basketball opened doors that would not have opened otherwise: friendships, travel across the country, and real confidence built through the sport. Running a training facility in Regina is an attempt to hand that same opportunity to more kids, not fewer. A pop-up booth on a Saturday in Victoria Park is a small version of that same goal. Talk to people, hear their stories, and let the sport do what it does, which is connect people who would not otherwise have a reason to talk. Partnering with Thrive in Your City on the day reflected that same idea: more organizations pulling in the same direction, reaching more families than either group would on its own.

The stories heard over the course of the day, from parents, from the volleyball player, from people just walking by, were the actual payoff. That is the part that made the heat worth it.

How Do You Get Your Kid Into HoopLife Basketball in Regina

If a booth in the park is the first look a family gets at HoopLife, the next step is easy. The HoopLife League is a 10-week season of real games and coached training for boys grades 1 to 12 and girls grades 1 to 8, and it costs $450 per player. There is no tryout. Coaches sort teams on the floor during the season itself, grouped by age and ability, so nobody is thrown in over their head. Teams are capped, 3x3 teams at six players and 5v5 teams at ten, and those spots do sell out. If a family is considering it, the smart move is to register now rather than wait on it.

For a kid who wants weekly reps without a season commitment, HoopLife also runs weekly skills sessions year round, split into Beginner and Advanced groups and capped at 8 spots per session. Families new to HoopLife altogether can start with the $10 Get Started package, which includes a planning meeting with a HoopLife Director and a first coached session.

For a longer look at how a season of HoopLife basketball changes a community, read How a Regina Community Showed Up for Its Kids.

HoopLife hopes to be back in Victoria Park for I Love Regina Day again, and to have more photos and more stories to show for it next time.