![]() It was great – and talk about an extremely helpful way to sponsor us!” We drove to Washington and back as a team. It was me and eight 16- and 17-year old boys who went. Paul Baptist Church, which blessed us by letting us use their 12-passenger church van as a sponsorship. Villareal explained: “The only reason we were able to attend this tournament – since we were invited at the last minute – is thanks to St. Recently, the club received the donation of a way to travel to a tournament. Sponsorships are available, but more are needed. The small fee goes toward uniforms, gym rental, insurance, equipment and travel costs. Though they are a non-profit club, Villareal said team members pay to play, but the fee is not high and no one is turned away due to an inability to pay. “Some of the kids on our team didn’t even make their high school basketball team.” “Some players are just raw talent, and no one ever gave them a chance before,” Villareal said. Tryouts are required, but no one is cut from the team. It is, in every way, organized and prepared to participate in games and tournaments in town and many others out of town. The team participates in tournaments hosted mostly by West Coast Elite Basketball. The team holds membership in the Amateur Athletic Union, a nationwide sports organization dedicated to the development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. Villareal said the basketball club meets and plays nine months out of the year, has now been playing since March, and will continue through the end of October a new season starts again in March 2024. Her daughter was a standout basketball athlete despite being 5’3” tall. She has not committed to that, but both she and her daughter are athletes and both have played on basketball teams throughout the years. At present, Idaho Hustle Basketball Club is an all-male team, but Villareal said people have asked her if she intends to start a girls’ club as well. It just made sense for Villareal to start her own club team and a program not connected to a high school sports program. Villareal started the team this past March because her son had played club ball for a different program since he was in 4th grade but after her son’s 8th grade year, that program ended for good. Idaho Hustle Basketball Club is the only faith-based traveling basketball team in the Valley that Victoria Villareal, its founder, knows of and to make sure the players’ faith is not hidden under a bushel, their jerseys sport a cross where the letter “t” is in the word Hustle. ![]() It isn’t a court of law, but it is a court of rules and regulations, and it’s the place where the Idaho Hustle Basketball Club does its best work. ![]() ![]() But when they come together to play, only faith and sports matter. The team members of Idaho Hustle Basketball Club come from all faith denominations, socioeconomic levels, and educational options. ![]()
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