About the Augusta Metros

The Augusta Metro Youth Foundation contributors are involved in many activities. Many in the GAIS Eagles and the ABR Live audience may not yet fully understand us.  They may see us as “basketball people” under the conventional definition.  The people in the “real Augusta Metros” community are more likely to know who we really are.  We are now attempting to make this site, and everything else we do, more consistent with our core values.


We will continue to serve our “basketball community” (anyone who has ever or will ever touch the network of people that we have worked so hard to serve in an around the gyms of our area extended for the past three decades).  We have always held the doors wide open and lent helping hands to those who self selected into our circle, which has always shared certain core values (the order is not pre-determined, but I believe the progression of things have logically followed a pattern):


1)  Pursuing basketball excellence - Again, this is not the “number 1 thing.”  But most “community members” encounter us first in the gym.  And those who become long term contributors are likely initially attracted to the success that we have in the gym.  The gym is a good place to learn that success is fun.  And that enjoyment makes giving extraordinary effort easy.  And that giving extraordinary effort consistently and not giving up in times of adversity and failure bring extraordinary success.  The virtuous circle feeds on itself.


2)  Pursuing academic success - The pursuit of academic success has always been a no brainer to me.  Those involved with Augusta Metros activities for long periods of time certainly share this belief.  Transferring the lessons in the gym to the classroom is straightforward.  And people who excel in our gym have had the initiative, habits, and grit to excel in the conventional academic institutions.


If these prior points were our only core values, we would be no different than the thousands other “do your job on the court and in the classroom” or “our players graduate” programs.  But we have a third, defining value:


3)  We attempt to be self reliant and independent thinkers and actors.  We don’t define success in the conventional ways:  basketball players’ success is not determined by scholarships; doing well enough in school to continue to play basketball is not what getting an education is about; earning a credential to attain a “guaranteed” living is not the goal and is not even possible.


We aim to be able to take care of ourselves and eventually our families by attaining a broad and practical education.  And we make available resources for our community members to envision and pursue these goals.


Because this third value is the “unconventional one,” it is the most important and needs the most explaining.  I’ll use our current (as of this posting) basketball trip to Missouri as an example.


Thirty-five players in our homeschool basketball program are currently in a charter bus headed to Missouri to play a combined 14 games during a five day trip.  The players have all been provided with game and warm-up gear, including game shoes and t-shirts for casual wear.  The players will comfortably lodge and eat well during the trip.  And although it would seem that this is an early (and extravagant?) beginning to an extraordinary school basketball season, this group of boys is by no means just beginning their season.  Our teams just finished a 15 game Fall League season which was preceded by a 30 game Summer League and 10 game Spring League schedule.  And Will Avery and I have been conducting 3-5 workout sessions each week with the players throughout the entire “off season.”


To be consistent with core value #3, our players and staff should earn the right to have these special experiences.  The truth is we are not currently sincerely pursuing core values #1 and #2.  But if we were, we would be no different from many other highly successful, yet conventional, school basketball programs.  And even the most successful conventional school basketball programs don’t attract sponsorships that provide for trips like this.


So to attract extra special support, we need to be extra special.  Our students and staff should quickly master the habits embodied in core values #1 and #2, and quickly and enthusiastically learn to pursue the ideals of core value #3.  The extraordinary school basketball season we are approaching will not organize itself.  The students can learn a lot and earn a lot by creating the kind of experiences that are truly unique and special for themselves.


A weekend will not pass when we are not hosting or participating in a set of games.  Special programs that are worthy of support consist of members who communicate and share their values and their progress.  We have the resources and knowledge needed to cause our players to self select into or out of the appropriate jobs: publishing a multimedia communications platform; organizing clinics and teaching sessions that integrate with our game/event schedule and reach out to the wider community; providing the products and services that our community members will pay for during and around our events; soliciting donations and support from those who are in a position to provide it and who identify with our values and our journey.

The circle is completed by the people who have achieved self sufficiency and are driven to support our/their “Augusta Metros community.”  After several decades, I think we have some “graduating” community members (Keenan Mann, Ricky Moore, and Buck Harris come to mind).  The Augusta Metros entity itself should graduate by actively pursuing the core value of self sufficiency.

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