A Richmond sports facility is offering a basketball program designed to train players for international competition beyond North America.
The Home Court is a 20,000-square-foot multi-sport facility located on No. 3 Road, near Superstore, and is owned by former professional basketball player Ben Chou.
His goal is to foster community through sports and fitness, while encouraging and preparing local athletes to compete at a professional level.
Chou hopes to help students reach the international stage — something he "fought hard for" as a young Asian athlete, eventually playing in Hong Kong.
As a teenager, Chou often practiced at the outdoor basketball courts behind North Delta's Seaquam secondary after school for hours until it got dark.
From there, he joined the school's senior basketball team and then continued playing at college.
"I know just how hard it is to get to that top one per cent, to the pro contract, in the U.S. and NBA," he said.
"Back then, it was rare to see an Asian basketball player on a team, even on a college or senior team. The ratio was just so slim that we cherished every chance that we got."
He hopes young athletes can play professionally — even if they don't make it to the NBA — by pursuing careers in countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, China or even in Europe.
"Canada is such a multicultural country with many residents of different ethnic descent. The focus is to open professional basketball as a career for athletes in different countries beyond North America."
Chou also noted Canada has built a "valuable relationship" with other countries through "our immigration policy," which, he said, makes it easier to develop young athletes into professionals and help them return to countries in Europe, Asia or Australia to play.
The Home Court's basketball academy currently has a head coach, with Chou serving as the second and backup coach.
The facility also hosts a men's competitive league game every Tuesday, which is open to everyone in the community, and is planning to launch a co-ed league.
Chou said it has been difficult to find dedicated private basketball courts that aren't located in churches, community centres or the Richmond Olympic Oval, which prompted him to open his own facility.
He added that community centre courts are often shared with other sports, such as badminton and volleyball.
"There aren't many commercial basketball courts around in the city; there might be some gyms available for training, but they all train on half courts, not full courts."
As a result, Chou wanted to make sure two, full-sized basketball courts at The Home Court were solely for the sport.
The facility also features four badminton and pickleball courts, as well as a fitness centre and yoga studio.
"I want to build up Richmond's community, and sports and fitness is a way that I think can do that."
New 'gym buddy' program
The Home Court opened in September 2024 and started its basketball academy program early this year.
Many of the league players, the academy and community members also use the fitness area, so Chou is hoping to get their "gym buddy program" off the ground this year.
Chou explained to the Richmond News that they developed a mobile app which can pair up members who need an exercise buddy at the facility.
He compares it to having a personal trainer, except this individual can be someone you know or don't know, depending on who is available.
"The idea is that they are not a trainer or student relationship. Rather, they are 'buddies' so they can exchange tips and information on a sport," explained Chou.
"It's about creating motivation and having someone there to keep you accountable on your sport goals during your time at the gym."
He said he noticed, since the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have distanced themselves, wanting to do everything alone, sometimes not even knowing how to interact with others in the gym.
"I want to recreate the binding and interaction between humans."
When the question of different athletic levels was raised, Chou said the pairing system of the app has a filter option where users can choose sport levels, the type of sport and even the gender of the buddy.
"For example, if a female comes in wanting a buddy to exercise with, but finds it uncomfortable to be paired with a male member, she can select to have a female buddy," he said.
Opening the gym has been a dream for Chou, and he's hoping he can share the space and his knowledge with everyone who comes by.
"This is a dream and also a challenge that I wanted to do, but there's a lot of giving back to the Richmond community that I'm trying to do."
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