Through the hoop – Brock Kantrow builds community, one game at a time

Who knew? Who knew that on any given Saturday morning, a building in Baton Rouge with five basketball courts would be chock-a-block with children running from goal to goal, balls bouncing, parents coaching, whistles blowing, the snack bar churning out a variety of offerings—and everyone having a blast?

Check out the BREC facility Team Sportsplex at Kenilworth and Perkins, where five basketball courts boast 14 total goals and convert to five volleyball courts. The Sportsplex even hosts a little indoor soccer.

“It’s great for the city of Baton Rouge,” says David Heroman, a local businessman who not only coaches his son’s team, but another squad consisting of his son’s friends, too. Such is the family nature of what’s going in this state-of-the-art building.

The place is a collaborative effort between BREC and the Baton Rouge Basketball and Volleyball Association, made possible by the financial support of Baton Rouge businessman Jim Bernhard. He had a selfish interest: son Ben is a basketball player at the Dunham School.

“I think it’s good for Baton Rouge,” Bernhard says. “Having traveled a lot with my son for AAU, I saw what other cities have, and this is just a start. To do it right, we need five more basketball courts.”

That project already is in the planning stages, and the goal is to host large, national-level tournaments right here in Baton Rouge.

The building is also the home of the Red Storm sports club, run by Dunham coaches and the husband-and-wife team of Jonathan and Donna Pixley, who field age-group teams in basketball and volleyball, respectively.

Running the show at the Team Sportsplex is 43-year-old Brock Kantrow, whose basketball resume includes being an assistant coach at Tulane and Miami (Fla.) and then head coach at St. Mary’s College, a Division III school in Maryland. His family owns the Bistro Byronz restaurants.

After getting out of hoops, Kantrow joined the Byronz operation, but after a few years realized he missed the hard court and missed coaching youth, especially his own son Henry and daughter Abbe.

Kantrow coached more than 200 boys and girls at a court on North Boulevard for more than a year until the 30,000-square-foot Sportsplex opened last August, less than eight months after construction began.

“What makes it all worth it for me is when I walk in on a Saturday morning and see 800 people, and kids trying to play basketball the right way, and everybody is enjoying it,” Kantrow says. “People are staying after their games to visit other people and watch other kids, and there are people who would never be in the same gym if it wasn’t for this place.”

BREC also offers fitness classes and adult basketball leagues at the Sportsplex, which is located near its velodrome and skate park.

“It’s great for the community. Look at the kids out here, from all different backgrounds,” says LSU senior associate athletic director Verge Ausberry, whose son plays basketball at the facility. “It’s great for BREC, too—being on the BREC commission myself—to team up with a private corporation to build a facility like this.”

In addition to basketball leagues, Kantrow offers camps, clinics and individual instruction. A wide variety of teams practices there.

“It is amazing to see on a Saturday morning when there are five courts going on,” he says.

Kantrow draws a lot of praise from many of the parents, who appreciate his efforts and what the facility offers, and none of that is lost on Bernhard.

“Brock has done a fantastic job,” Bernhard says. “There are few times when you have people exceed your expectations, and he’s done it.”