Glow In The Dark Northside Ballers

The last time I performed at Northside Ballers was 10 years ago. Back then, the basketball club was still called DWV and had a different board. The key figure in this story is Ümit. He contacted me and told me that the club has grown tremendously and become more professional since 10 years ago. The fun part was that he was in the car with his 17-year-old daughter, who still talks about the show I performed there 10 years ago. I also managed to gain the enthusiasm and trust of the backbone of the organization: Judith and Chantal. Together, we managed to make excellent preparations and create a wonderful experience for this special day, so the fun could begin.

This is the first time we've transformed not one, not two, but three rooms into a glow-in-the-dark space. It's a huge undertaking, but with our strong team, it's achievable. My best friend Aldi is coming along again, as are Team Players Dimeh and Jayden. This time, we'll have help from one of our newest Team Players, Kim. She's a top-level athlete and knows me from way back. She's now a third-year student at HALO. She's skilled at leading and motivating children, a real asset to our team.

After two hours of preparation, the fun begins. We fire up the smoke machines a few times, and then the fuses blow. The group of children under 12 has to wait an extra ten minutes, which they can barely stand because of the tension. Full of amazement and enthusiasm, they enter the room, and shortly after, the fuses blow again, leaving us in the dark. But the show must go on, so I keep talking. Meanwhile, I switch to a portable speaker so I can be heard by all 70 enthusiastic children and their parents. We make a plan in case the fuses don't work. We agree to all use the flashlights on our phones, which is also cool since I've never done that before. Fortunately, the fuses blow again at that moment. WE decide not to use the smoke machines anymore.

The freestyle basketball show is met with great enthusiasm from the children. They express their surprise, appreciation, and respect in wonderful and funny ways. We're running a bit behind schedule now, so we're keeping the warm-up a bit shorter. We have three courts marked out with arrows on the ground by Kim. In the middle is a large skills challenge. On the courts, there's a reaction challenge, a shooting range, and the opportunity to play a good game of basketball. We have 1,5 hours per age group, which makes for a total of three groups. We tailor the level to the age and needs of the group. For the third group, we transform the court—in consultation with them—into a playing field. Team SB gets to play too, which is wonderful after a long time. With our new, white glow-in-the-dark basketball uniforms, we look great.