LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Fern Creek head boys basketball Coach James Schooler stands in a gym filled with basketball players training and murals of figures like Muhammad Ali, Jamon Brown and Breonna Taylor looming.
"I grew up in the West End of Louisville," Schooler said. "Growing up, I had community centers. I had different youth programs that I was able to come through, to keep me busy throughout the summers."
But as he got older, he thought he saw them fade away.
"So many people would tell me there is nothing for kids to do anymore," Schooler said. "There's no programs for kids. And so I had to take a deep look in the mirror and say why?"
He's opened his own answer: The Schooler Prep Academy.
While it offers training for basketball players, the coach wanted to expand beyond that, including free programs to kids focusing on things like ACT prep or financial literacy. There's also opportunities to express themselves through art and music.
"We're not the end for all, but we want to be a center of culture for kids to learn and grow," Schooler said. "And then from here, they can expand out and if people have other places where they have kids that come and gather, they can come and share with us."
"He always just wanted to give back," former player Amir Yusuf said. "That was his biggest thing. For me, I didn't really understand it until seeing it."
"It's one thing to tell a kid to do this or do that," Schooler said. "And it's another thing to show them."
"I feel it builds confidence and it also leads the way for kids as they get older," current player Jaden Rogers said. "They'll probably turn around and do the same thing as he is, continuing the legacy."
It's one the head coach has thought of for a long time. He said this has been a 20-year project for him. And he believes he can build this into a community staple like the way he built Fern Creek into a basketball contender.
"I'm a competitor," Schooler said. "But I also live by a greater calling and yes, my calling is to be a successful high school or college coach or trainer. But my greater calling is to make sure that I provide the God-given gifts to the youth."
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