How To Successfully Juggle Two Passions

By: Cass Ferguson

Over the course of the last few days we have chatted with people from all aspects of the sporting industry (marketing, social media, digital marketing) so for this story we though it was time to switch it up.
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We would like to welcome Kevin Wilson to the Sports As A Job family. His passion was to make a difference in someone’s life whether it be through physiotherapy or mentoring people. 

​There are two parts to Kevin's story. The first part is currently Wilson in the process of finishing obtaining his masters in physiotherapy with the plan of finishing it up early next year (2021).Down the line Wilson stated, “The experience has given me lots to think about, but the long term goal would be to work as a therapist at the pro level of basketball (NBA).”

Now, on the other side of his story, he is the Founder of the NBYMP (National Basketball Youth Mentorship Program).  The program was founded in February of 2018 and with 2 years under the belt Wilson says, “It has expanded so fast with over 1,500 kids partaking in the program.” This program is not just any program because they are also able to have great partnerships with the Toronto Raptors, Raptors 905, Microsoft Canada, and The CEBL (Canadian Elite Basketball League). These partnerships have allowed the program to grow in ways Wilson never thought would be possible. Not only do they want to provide mentorship between the kids and basketball, but it provides them with sports psychology, nutrition, financial literacy and academic tutoring.

We asked Wilson to break down what an average day looks like for him from being a student to running a mentorship program. 

Wilson said, “My name is like juggling two full-time jobs, being a full-time student and running a full-time program. My days start off by me working on the mentorship program (answering emails, phone calls, planning, organizing) and then juggling school and school work on top of that.” He said, “It truly is a lot of juggling – two hours here, two hours there, but I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t love it.”

Passion can stem from anywhere at anytime. We asked Wilson when did he realize that he was meant to work in the sports industry. He said that, “The two go hand in hand. My passion for physiotherapy and basketball have led me to this point.” He also noted that his passion started back when he was 10 years old, but the passion would not be where it is today if it wasn’t for two mentors he had in his life. Being a two-party story, his mentors continued to be on either said of it. One mentor, being a physiotherapist, made it fun for an eleven year old boy who just wanted to play basketball when he broke his knee. Wilson said, “Looking back, this made me realize that this is what I want to provide to people. I have always wanted to help people so why not help people when they can’t really help themselves.” While continuing to heal with the goal of going back to playing, he had his other mentor, his basketball coach from back in the day. This mentor basically introduced Wilson to basketball where his love for the sport grew. In the end what these mentors did for him is just half of what he hopes he can provide in the NBYMP.

If you haven’t picked this out yet in any of our stories, then let us say it again:  Your story and journey is yours, and with that, you are you. With this thought in mind we asked Wilson what are the three best words he can think of that best describe him, and he said, “Patient, easy going, ambitious.” When hearing his story these three words match all too perfectly.

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow are so different. Yesterday you could have done something but wished you did it differently, today you may do it again but better, and tomorrow you may try something totally different. You just have to keep in mind that dreaming big and setting goals will prove beneficial.  

We finished off asking Wilson, where he sees himself in the next five to ten years and where he sees the NBYMP in the same time frame. He said, “From a physio standpoint, I personally see myself in the NBA as a physiotherapist and/ or working with Team Canada, so that would be the ultimate goal within five to ten years for myself personally.” It’s great to dream big and dreaming big is just something Wilson wants to do for the mentorship program. He brought up, “We provide camps for kids right now across Ontario, in five to ten years we 100% will be providing these camps across Canada, but it doesn’t stop there. We want to grow our database from 1,500 to over 15,000.”

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow are different so dream big and set goals.

If you are someone like Kevin Wilson, or want to know more about him, you can connect with him here:
Instagram: @officialkevinwilson
Twitter: @officialkevinw
Website: www.nbymp.ca