Mohammed, 17, Volunteer

Originally from London, Mo has been living in Leeds for 2 years and had been looking for opportunities to play throughout his time in the city. Now a student at Notre Dame Sixth Form college, Mo is a regular volunteer with our community and under 14s basketball programme, a leader on the Street Games NXT Gen leadership programme and has recently completed his level 1 basketball qualification. He describes how being a coach has benefitted him both on and off the court.

What they say

“Being given the opportunity to volunteer for LDM has given me the chance to try something completely new and it has given me the independence to teach people my knowledge and new skills about the game. I can communicate different information and facts to a range of people who are all at different levels. Being a basketball volunteer and being around children a lot has helped me learn patience and taught me how to be calm in certain situations. LDM has also taught me how to deal with repetitiveness and having to come up with new and exciting ways to teach basketball which suits everyone. In the future, I want to gain as much experience as possible and potentially start my own business. If it wasn’t for LDM and the people involved, I would have moved down to London. This was the reason I stayed in Leeds and I am looking forward to seeing how everyone progresses in the future.” – Mohammed.

Update 2021: Mo has been putting in the hours to further improve his coaching and has taken a leading role for both u16 and u14 teams so far this season alongside various school and community sessions. Mo is currently completing his level 2 refereeing and coaching as he works hard to increase his experience of the game further.