About Chatham Kings
Basketball camps, private training and youth programs for players across Chatham-Kent.
Chatham Kings is a basketball organisation based in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada. It runs school-break basketball camps (Holiday Hoops, ages 7–13) and private and semi-private training for ages 8–18, holds scholarship spots for families who need them, and is building an after-school program, small-group training and adult basketball from interest lists. Its long-term vision is to help bring professional basketball to Chatham-Kent.
Nick Gonzalez
Founder & Head Coach, Chatham Kings
Nick grew up going to a program called 3rd Level. It ran on the third floor of a church, after school, and it wasn't a basketball program at all — it was a room. Kids did chores, hung out, and there was always someone there who knew their names.
He'll tell you it was one of the best things in his life at that age: there was somewhere to be between the last bell and dinner, and someone who noticed if you didn't turn up.
That's what Chatham Kings is built on. The basketball is real and it's coached properly — 15+ years of experience coaching at all levels, developing players on and off the court through structured training, character development and community leadership. But the thing underneath it is the same as it was on that third floor: somewhere to go, and an adult who knows your name.
It's also why cost isn't allowed to be the reason a kid misses out. Nick holds scholarship spots in every program and covers them himself, which is the only reason there's a limit on how many there are.
Nick is a Christian, and it shows in how he coaches: every kid noticed, every kid pushed, every family welcome.
He coaches the training sessions himself. If your child trains here, they train with him.
Why we exist
The gap 3rd Level filled is the same one that exists in Chatham-Kent now: the stretch between the last school bell and dinner. What a kid does with it, and who’s in the room while they do.
So the programs are being built around that. Camps fill the school breaks. Training is for the player chasing a specific goal. The after-school program we’re working toward is the answer for weekday afternoons — homework, basketball, and somewhere kids belong. And scholarship spots exist so what a family earns never decides whether their kid gets to play.
A Place to Play. A Way to Get Better. Something Bigger to Believe In.
The youth programs matter in their own right. Professional basketball is the long-term horizon — the thing a town builds toward once enough kids are playing and enough people care. It's about where the organisation is going, never a promise about any one player.
We’re building from the bottom up, in the order that makes sense: programs kids can join this year, then more programs as families ask for them, and professional basketball as the long-term horizon. Read more on The Dream.
Where we fit in Chatham-Kent
Chatham-Kent basketball is bigger than any one organisation. Local house-league and travel programs build the foundation. School teams and group training sharpen serious young players. Chatham Kings adds the weekday program, the individual coaching, and the community layer around them.
Chatham-Kent already has good basketball. The Chatham-Kent Wildcats, the school teams, and the other programs in this community have put a lot of kids into this game, and we want to see all of them do well. If your kid's next step is one of their teams, that's a win — we'll help them get ready for it. This is about growing the sport here and getting more kids playing, not competing over the ones already on a roster.
We're not starting a rep or club team, and we're not registering a program with Ontario Basketball. Our programs exist to get more kids playing — and to help them make the teams that already exist.We’re independent of, and not affiliated with, any other local organisation — naming them here is us cheering them on, not claiming a partnership.
The professional goal
Professional basketball in Chatham-Kent is a long-term vision, not a done deal. No franchise has been awarded, no league has committed, and we won’t pretend otherwise. What moves it forward is kids playing and a community that shows up. If you want to see it happen, you can add your name.