KITCHENER -- A basketball skills camp has shifted to online training during the province-wide shutdown.

Chuder Teny, a former player turned coach for the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, and Tesloth Simon, a current player for the University of Windsor Lancers, created Why Not You in early December. It is a local basketball skills development program for participants in Waterloo Region and Windsor.

“We decided to launch that just because it's nice to give back to the community that helped us get to where we're at now. Without all those supporters, I don't know where I’d be,” said Teny.

With the second lockdown that rolled in just before the holidays, they made the switch to online.

“The kids are catching on, the kids are great. You know we demonstrate all the time first, and then after that the kids are easy to pick it up,” said Simon.

According to Teny and Simon, they decided to make the program free as a way to ease the financial burden for so many parents who are looking for ways to keep their kids active. For the kids, they wanted to provide an option for them to continue chasing their dreams.

“The fact that they are so selfless and offering this program to anybody who wants to it I think says a lot. Like it's keeping the youth active, it's keeping them involved, it's keeping them engaged,” said Jacqueline Fancois, whose son Zade participates in the program.

“This is a good chance to improve my skills and to get better," said Zade. “Especially since I’m not the strongest person on my basketball team, the cardio and all the workouts really help me,”

According to Tristan Gillera, who dreams of playing in the NBA, Kitchener’s Jamal Murray is a big inspiration.

“I need some confidence on the court sometimes, i'm just a little nervous. But Jamal Murray's very good at just playing the game,” said Gillera, a Why Not You participant.

Teny and Simon have their sights set on summer camps and hopefully returning to the court with everyone in person. Until then, the online drills will keep running through their Instagram account.