Grind Region Preview: West Texas Blazers
We may be in the middle of high school basketball season but it’s not too early to look ahead to what’s coming up on the AAU circuit. Over the next few months we will be taking a look at the teams that will be participating in the PrepHoops Circuit Grind Region and here’s a look at West Texas Blazers.
West Texas Blazers will field teams in the 17U and 16U divisions of the Grind Region and will be at the #GrindSzn Kickoff, Spring Kickoff, and Grind Region Finals.
Here’s a transcript of a conversation we had with program director Bob Jones.
Why did you start your program? How long have you been around?
WTBB was founded (2014) by me (Bob Jones) and my older brother (JonQuez Mathews), we started WTBB because we are passionate about what we do, love the game of basketball and wanted to change the youth culture of sports in the El Paso Region. We wanted to also help change lives for student athletes/families and to create opportunities/memories.
What is the goal of your program for 2019?
Goal for 2019 is to continue to grow our players on and off the court and to put our student athletes in the best situation as well to be successful and WIN in life.
What is your program’s mission each year?
It is the mission of the West Texas Blazers Basketball Program to educate and empower today’s youth w/ confidence, commitment, and integrity, so they can live a productive and successful tomorrow. Our goal is to teach young athletes respect for themselves, their peers and their community by instilling a code of ethics built on honesty, responsibility and team work. As an organization we do not emphasize basketball as the number one priority over other areas of our young athletes’ lives. Our commitment is to complete the personal growth of our players.
Do you know of any players that will be back in your program this year? Who should we have our eye on?
Christian Luera (PG) will be returning this season along with 6’3 Sergio Burchell (SG/Wing) and 6’4 (SG) Aaron Dreher. This spring we were able to bring in a very strong group of guys, all guys are flat out players, but (PG)Jonathan Garcia is the #1 PG in the area, him and Luera both have nothing but play makers around them. 6’5 Marcus Juarez and 6’6 Jaylen Subject are both poised for a big spring/summer, we also have 4 kids from Faith Christian who are all 2x State Champs.
Why did you choose the Prep Hoops Circuit?
We chose Prep Hoops because of the platform that it will provide for our kids. We played in a PH event for the first time last year in OKC, and it was amazing. Great experience/competition. Relevant exposure for our kids. Really looking forward to this opportunity.