We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gabrielle Clark. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gabrielle below.

Alright, Gabrielle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

June of summer 2017 I was working and serving on a three-week mission trip in my hometown of South Central Los Angeles with a nonprofit. During my time on this mission trip I had the opportunity of spending several weeks at a housing project that I grew up 2 minutes from while also engaging in conversations around the Gospel and race, power, culture, and privilege. Almost every day at the housing project we spent time playing basketball with children of different ages. I grew up playing basketball just about my whole life, so being on the court was a way for me to connect and get to know the children.

One particular afternoon, I sat back and observed the children shoot around with one another. I remember watching a young girl, maybe 12 or 13 years old, play basketball and could notice the raw athletic ability that she had, an ability that was natural for her as if she was just born with it. For a quick second I thought about how she could possibly get a Divison 1 basketball scholarship like I did if she put in the work. Quickly, I was reminded that although I grew up in South Central Los Angeles that my parents had the financial resources to allow me to travel the country as a high schooler to participate in basketball tournaments. These tournaments were filled with college coaches recruiting and looking for their next prospect.

At the moment it hit me. I realized that quality, competitive youth sports has become a matter of the haves and have-nots. For many children in South Central Los Angeles and other underserved communities around the country the financial resources are not available to participate in quality, competitive sports. The haves have an overload of financial resources to spend on quality, competitive basketball to put their children in the position to grow and compete at not only their current level of play but also the next level. At the same time, the have-nots have to stretch their financial needs to simply provide for their family, quality, competitive youth sports is sometimes not even a thought because of the lack of financial resources.

During the third week of the mission trip while journaling and reflecting on all that I learned and saw, God put it on my heart to be a part of the solution. On June 15, 2017 I wrote in my journal, “Dreams: Girls club basketball team. Girls from inner city sponsored by people to be on team.” The solution to this horrific problem that exists is TRUCE Basketball Academy.

Founded February 2021, TRUCE Basketball Academy is a 501c3 nonprofit that was created to serve girls, their families, and communities throughout the greater Phoenix area through the game of basketball. The mission of TRUCE Basketball Academy is to partner with families to provide opportunities for girls to grow as holistic leaders on and off the court. TRUCE serves girls (and their families) from underserved communities that wouldn’t otherwise be able to participate in quality, competitive basketball due to expensive program cost. TRUCE Basketball Academy exists so that all girls, regardless their socioeconomic status, will have the opportunity to say yes to quality, competitive basketball.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

For most of my life two of my current passions have always been present, children and basketball. My mom has had an in-home childcare sine before I was born. My brother and I sometimes joke that we had no choice about whether or not we liked children because how house was always filled with children Monday through Friday. And now, we both work with children in some capacity. In undergrad I minor in Child & Family Development.

Sometime during 1997 I participated on my first recreation basketball team shortly after my dad bought me my first basketball hoop. Recreation basketball at a local park soon turned into recreation basketball at our local YMCA which then turned into me participating on an AAU/club team for the next ten years. I then spent 5 years playing on the women’s basketball team at San Diego State University.

All that to say, children and basketball have almost always been passions of mine and I am ecstatic that I get to combine those passions with TRUCE Basketball Academy. TRUCE is more than just your average girls basketball academy. At TRUCE, which stands for truth + grace, as we care and develop basketball players we do the same for the human being that will one day move on from the game of basketball. With my education and experience working with children and youth, we focus on developing physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual leaders, not focusing on just developing basketball players. With our culture of truth and grace we develop leaders by providing teaching and correcting in a way that empowers players.

Through our camps/clinics, AAU teams, leadership academy, and community events we provide opportunities for girls to grow as holistic leaders. With grace, we cultivate a culture that fosters teaching and correcting to empower girls to be the young women they were created to be.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Sometimes coaches, or any type of leader, has to call a timeout even when they feel the game, or momentum, about to turn a corner. At the best interest of the team a timeout may need to be called to address the difficulty before it grows even bigger. Last fall I noticed some difficulty and I needed to call a timeout before things grew worse.

The mission of TRUCE Basketball Academy is to partner with families to provide opportunities for girls to grow as holistic leaders on and off the basketball court. At TRUCE we compete and strive for greatness, and at the same time we care more about people than wins on the court.

This mission came alive more than ever for me when I was in a difficult season last year as I grieved the sudden death of my father. A few months after my father passed away I hit the ground running with TRUCE again, striving for greatness as I worked on building and growing TRUCE. I later realized that in that season greatness for me looked like calling a timeout from working on TRUCE. I needed to address the grief and heartache I was experiencing before it grew even bigger due to me ignoring it.

At TRUCE this is what we are all about! As we develop basketball players on the court, we care even more for the human beings that will one day move on from the game. We will address and grow from the difficulties that try to prohibit us from being the holistic leaders we were created to be. When we address our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health we’ll not only be better basketball players, but better humans.

The amazing thing is… God never takes a timeout! During my timeout God gave me a greater sense of vision and developed some key partners for TRUCE, and gave me greater awareness and knowledge of what it means to be a holistic leader. I wholeheartedly believe that TRUCE Basketball Academy will be better because of the timeout I took. I’m ready more than ever to grow TRUCE Basketball Academy to the life changing organization that God created it to be.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

What’s helped me build my reputation within my market is sharing about my experience and education. I have a lot of experience both on the basketball court and also child care/classroom setting with children. As a result I’m able to connect with children in a way that most coaches or trainers are not able to.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trucebasketball/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TRUCEbasketball
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/trucebasketballacademy/?viewAsMember=true