Open Gym in Regina: Where Kids Can Just Play
Not every hour in a gym needs a coach in it. Ten dollars, a full regulation court, and nobody telling them what to work on.
- $10 to drop in, free with any HoopLife membership, all ages.
- Runs every week of the year, on the full-size regulation court.
- Twenty people per open gym, so there is actually room to play.
- Uncoached on purpose: this is the hour that keeps the game fun.
There is a version of youth sport where every hour is scheduled, coached and assessed, and the kid who used to love the game stops asking to go.
Open gym is the antidote. Nobody is correcting anything. There is a court, a ball, a scoreboard, and whatever your child feels like doing with the next hour.
The details
- Cost: $10 to drop in, or free with any HoopLife membership.
- Who: all ages.
- When: every week of the year — check the live schedule for this week's times.
- Where: the HoopLife Centre, 661 Solomon Cres: a full-size regulation hardwood court with six adjustable hoops, shot clocks on both ends and a premium scoreboard.
- How many: twenty people per open gym, so there is room to actually play.
Why unstructured time matters
Almost every player who ends up any good spent a lot of hours in a gym with nobody telling them what to do. That is where a kid tries the move they saw on a phone, misses forty of them, and eventually makes one.
Coached sessions build the correct version of a skill. Free play builds the confidence to use it and, more importantly, the reason to keep coming.
Who open gym is for
- The competitive player who needs shots up on a day with no practice.
- The kid who wants to play with a friend and does not want a program.
- Teenagers who would like somewhere warm and safe to be on a Saturday in January.
- Families — parents shoot too. Nobody is checking.
- Anyone testing us out. Ten dollars is the cheapest look inside the building we sell.
How it fits with everything else
Open gym is not coaching, and it is not meant to be. If your child wants to actually get better, pair it with a weekly Skills Training session, where a coach corrects habits in a group of eight, or a league season for real games.
The neat part: any membership includes unlimited open gym alongside its training credits, so the coached hour and the free hour come in the same purchase.
And in a Regina winter, an indoor court that is open every week is worth more than it sounds. More options here: indoor winter activities for kids in Regina.
Frequently asked questions
How much is open gym at HoopLife?
$10 to drop in, or free with any HoopLife membership. No membership is needed to come.
What ages is open gym for?
All ages. Adults play too.
Is there coaching at open gym?
No, and deliberately so. Coaching happens in the weekly training sessions; open gym is unstructured play.
How many people are allowed?
Twenty per open gym, so there is room to play properly.
Not sure where your kid fits?
Leave your name and email and a HoopLife coach will help you work it out. Or start with the $10 Get Started package: a planning meeting with a Director plus their first session.
