CLUB overview
RUSH Basketball Club is an innovative youth basketball club offering competitive and recreational programs for players ages 6-14. At RUSH, we pride ourselves on offering a comprehensive player pathway led by passionate professional coaches who truly care about the success of your child on and off the court. From Rookie Ball to our flagship Spark League and everything in between, our program curriculum is carefully designed by Club Director Andrew Kay to ensure our players receive maximum feedback, quality coaching, and high-rep sessions every time they take the court.
Our flagship program, called Spark League, is an innovative and exciting twist on traditional development leagues. Offered for Boys and Girls ages 8-14, the Spark League combines the best parts of rep basketball like team practices, weekly games, and quality coaching, with the best part of house leagues, like local games and less travel, and offers a unique basketball experience right here in Midtown Toronto.
At RUSH, our innovative club philosophy is designed with long-term athlete development in mind, ensuring players are continually challenged to improve their skills and take their game to the next level, while also recognizing that we are working with children - not mini-professional athletes.
Find out more about our programs
our philosophy
At RUSH Basketball Club (RUSH), our innovative development-first club philosophy is grounded in seven main principles:
Maximum Touches - players need to be moving, not standing in line. We modify our sessions to ensure players are constantly moving, learning, and competing.
Applying Skills Into Games - learning skills is great, but only if you can apply them in a game. Our coaches want to teach players WHEN to execute skills, not just how.
High-Quality Coaching - our coaches are committed to helping your child reach their full potential, in basketball and beyond.
Be An Athlete - our program is rooted in the principles of Long-Term Athlete Development, and our goal is to build a strong foundation of fundamental movement skills, physical literacy, and technical proficiency.
Learn Life Skills - we use sports to teach core life skills like hard work, teamwork, resilience, accountability, and leadership.
Passion For Sport - we believe that if kids love coming to the gym they are more likely to stick with it, and if they stick with it they will develop more over the long-term.
Age Appropriate Competition - we prioritize the long-term development of all players over the short-term results of a few.
Our goal is to foster a lifelong love of basketball while developing fundamental movement and sport-specific skills. We emphasize holistic athlete development, integrating technical proficiency, physical literacy, emotional resilience, and social connection.
How We Do That
For young athletes in Grades 1-3, we create an exciting, play-based environment in Rookie Ball where kids develop agility, balance, coordination, and speed (ABCs) while learning basketball fundamentals in a fun and supportive setting.
For Grades 3-8, we elevate the experience with structured gameplay in the Spark League, fostering confidence, teamwork, and a love for healthy, age-appropriate competition.
As our players get into middle school and high school, our training program is designed to enhance decision-making and deepen game strategy — balancing competitive growth with high-quality development to set athletes up for long-term success on and off the court.
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT?
At any RUSH program, whether it’s a rep team practice, game, or introductory program, here are the core principles you can expect:
Professional & Engaging Coaches - we pride ourselves on hiring great people who truly care about your child's success on and off the court.
More Touches & More Learning - we believe that practices should feature high-rep activities with quality feedback. No laps, lines, or lectures.
Compete With Pride - regardless of age or ability, our coaches will push players to compete in all aspects of the game. Hard work is a life skill.
More Than Basketball - sports can used as a vehicle to teach core life skills like discipline, accountability, and teamwork, and our coaches aim to instill those traits from day one.
What does success look like?
It’s important to remember that youth sports is a long-term journey with many ups and downs. The best youth players are rarely the best high school players, and every player’s development is on a different timeline. At RUSH, here’s how we evaluate success:
Are we developing lifelong athletes?
Are we teaching our players crucial life skills?
Are our players competitive and hard workers?
Are our players respectful and disciplined?
Are our players improving and getting better?
These are the ONLY metrics that we truly care about. Learning how to win and lose are important, but not at the expense of overall development and building lifelong passion for sport.
meet CLUB director andrew kay!
Coach Andrew Kay brings over a decade of leadership experience in basketball coaching, business management, and program development to RUSH Basketball Club. A native of Scarborough, Ontario, Andrew has coached for 10 years at the youth and collegiate levels, most recently as an Assistant Coach with George Brown College's Men’s Varsity Basketball team, where he played a key role in their 2024 CCAA and OCAA Silver Medal finishes.
Andrew is a former OUA varsity player, and continues to play as a practice player with TMU and the Canadian Senior National Women’s teams.
Coach Kay has also contributed to the development of young athletes through management and coaching roles with City Hoops and the Scarborough Basketball Association. His strategic approach to coaching, emphasis on skill development, and experience in program management set him apart as a dedicated mentor for aspiring basketball players.
In addition to his basketball expertise, Andrew holds an MBA from TCU, a Master of Finance from Queen’s University, and Honors Bachelor of Health Promotion from Laurentian University.