We make a living by what we get , but we make a life by what we give.

Ordinarily, Melbourne is a sports-crazy Australian City. With over 5 million inhabitants per the 2021 human population, this is the second largest city in Australia, only behind Sydney. With its vibrant and growing multi-race population, Melbourne is undeniably developing into a formidable Sport Polis. 

Coincidentally, it is home to the 2023-24, NBL regular season winners, underscoring the vibrancy of its street and mainstream basketball competitions. Perhaps the current crop of NBL stars led by the award-winning Mathew Delavedova, Chris Goulding, and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr, to mention just a few, are generational inspirations fuelling the unprecedented enthusiasm for sports among locals, and immigrants to the city. 

Of course, the city’s love for sports is not limited to basketball. The Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix 2024 held at Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, on March 24th, 2024 attests to the city’s lively and diverse sporting culture. Needless to say, soccer, Australian Rules Football (AFL), Australian Open Tennis, and Cricket are a few of the other increasingly popular sports across Melbourne sporting grounds and streets. 

Amid the bustling city and its environs’ love for sports, especially basketball, sections of aspiring athletes feel the compulsion to showcase their skills and talents despite several odds and challenges. 

In the recent past, our dedicated Basketball News Australia (BNA) journalists have noted with rare exception, a group of passionate teens of African descent who rock the city’s bustling streets in the wee hours of the morning donning training kits. We noticed this is their daily routine and we recently, found out these morning training sessions precede their school hours.

Surprisingly, they still make it to the training grounds later in the afternoon after their schooling routine.  

Unsurprisingly though, it is the group’s undying resilience, commitment and zeal that caught our attention. 

As such, recently, the BNA fraternity sat down for a talk with these young, enthusiastic rookie athletes alongside their zealous facilitator, Manny Hendrix. 

As a passionate basketball news platform for Australians and other lovers of the game globally, we were eager to understand their side of the story; what fuels their desire, their aspirations, the challenges, and how they think their talents will shape Melbourne’s sporting culture. 

Meet Manny Hendrix Inspiring Untapped Blacks’ Basketball Dreams In Melbourne 

Decades ago, the renowned British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill opined that ‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give’. Manny Hendrix, a zealous Melbourne resident and basketball enthusiast exemplifies this reality. 

He is a mentor to a group of aspiring basketballers of African descent in Melbourne. Through his loosely structured program, Manny provides training and gym facilities to the boys free of charge. Credits to him, from our interactions, Manny Hendrix is more of a father figure to these compassionate lads as he goes beyond the bounds of comfort to offer the much-needed moral, and material support needed in moulding a professional basketball athlete. 

He tells BNA that his intrinsic desire is to see better generations in future. He reiterates that he lacked such mentorship in his early years but feels deeply duty-bound to guide the younger lads into discovering their better selves at the right time.

He challenges the mentees to leverage the facilities he freely offers while setting higher goals and helping them remain true to the call as this is the surest conventional path to breaking even into a professional athlete career. 

In our recent interview with him alongside two of his mentees, Ayub Moses and Jok, we dug deeper to understand their relationship, their goals, the challenges, and how basketball has and will likely impact their lives in the near future. 

We also wanted to understand what dreams the duo have, given the commitment they have shown in their pre-professional basketball training and mentorship.

Ayub Moses, one of his mentees opines that his love for the game was inspired by lovely Uncle Okol who introduced him to basketball, having played before but not lucky enough to make it into top-tier professional basketball leagues.

Nevertheless, Moses believes Manny’s presence in his early life might be what his elder uncle missed in powering his career to professional levels. 

He is eternally thankful to Manny for providing him with free access to premium gym sessions, professional physios/therapy, a basketball court, kitting/uniforms, and financial help in professional registration whenever needed. 

To Jok, Manny is a heavenly sent angel shaping his young basketballing career for the better. In our tell-it-all interview, Jok revealed to us that his innate passion for the game developed at a considerably tender age given his cousins would regularly pour into the streets, neighbouring and college basketball courts, showcasing their dribbling, guard and occasionally 3-pointer sinkings!

Like Moses, Manny Hendrix has always been available at this formative stage as he dreams of a greater basketball professional debut in future. From providing free registration fees, free uniforms, training facilities, and physio sessions, Manny couldn’t have come at a better time in his life. 

He tells us that Manny has pricelessly contributed to his basketballing journey and that he’s an influential father figure. He is their constant motivator, always available in their lives pushing them to work extra hard to exploit their maximum potential as this would have a significant bearing on their upward social ladder mobility. 

We asked them what advice they have for young athletes aspiring to break the ceiling into a professional basketball career. Ayub Moses stressed hard work, innate discipline, and patience, and always perceived sports as the fuel that could potentially power your upward social mobility. 

To Jok, every athlete’s success hinges on solid trust in God, tenacious discipline, robust training and ideal mentorship and coaching as they get from Manny. Jok particularly encourages aspiring basketball players from relatively poor backgrounds never to allow their backgrounds to limit their dreams of making it to the top-cream basketball leagues in Australia, or other globally competitive leagues. 

We also wanted to understand what dreams the duo have given the commitment they have shown in their pre-professional basketball training and mentorship. 

Ayub Moses indicates his prospect of making it into Louisville College’s first basketball team. This would provide the much-needed platform to showcase his abilities and perhaps get the attention of NBL1 or NBL scouts seeking to recruit the freshest talent into their academies. Jok is hopeful to represent his favourite college at the University of Kentucky in the competitive leagues and competition. The chance will likely be his breakthrough into professional basketball in future. 

The Melbourne’s Manny Hendrix Mentees ready to get into basketball action in their free indoor training facility, courtesy of their mentor , Manny Hendrix.

In our parting shots, we asked them how basketball has so far been beneficial to their lives. They simply describe the game as therapeutic. It provides them with a perfect chance to exploit their God-given talent while advancing positive social vibes via the game.

Hopefully, they stress, they’ll break the professional basketball ceiling. This would be a dream come true, especially given that they come from less-endowed backgrounds. It is a chance to propel generational prospects and dreams to new social and financial levels; which, expectedly, is the collective dream defining humanity. 

To Manny Hemdrix and many others affording less disadvantaged and deserving inhabitants of Greater Melbourne, your efforts and course for better humanity will always be rewarded with unmeasured kindness. As the BNA fraternity, we celebrate your efforts and will continue amplifying your positive contribution to advancing the basketball culture in Melbourne and the entire of Australia