The spark of a first

What happens when a kid discovers a sport for the very first time.

normally don't get speechless when hearing stories for the first time, but hearing this story, I truly didn't have words.

A week after one of our Camp Spark Philippines chapters finished a camp, I was catching up with our chapter leader to see how things went. It started off normal — how kids made new friends and bonded over basketball — but then it took a twist. Two Indigenous kids had joined the camp.

These kids had never played sports, nevertheless, seen a technology screen.

She told me that after Camp Spark ended, they didn't leave. They stayed, playing basketball nonstop.

They went on for hours, amazed by the game. They kept playing for days, and every chance they got, they were playing basketball. Hearing this could only put a smile on my face, because I knew I had truly impacted others.

These moments are simply way bigger than sports; they're about opportunity. The opportunity of giving others the ability to learn the unknown. We see these opportunities in our everyday lives, like kids going to school or learning how to ride a bike for the first time. But the thing is, not everyone has equal opportunity.

Camp Spark is my true inspiration because we are not trying to create world-class athletes, but simply give kids the chance to discover what they love.

Cheers to igniting a spark.