New basketball court opens in North Preston after fundraising campaign

HALIFAX -- Shaquille Smith knew he had to do something when one of the basketball courts -- the heart of his Nova Scotia community -- started to wear down.

Three years and $300,000 later, the 26-year-old's vision for a new court in the Halifax-area community of North Preston came true.

On Saturday, the ribbon was cut at the grand opening of the NBA-sized court.

Officials from the Halifax Regional Municipality say they contributed $100,000 to the project and the provincial government contributed the same.

But Smith raised the remaining $103,000 on his own.

Smith says he wants to show younger people in his community that basketball can have a positive impact on their lives, as it did for him.

While attending Acadia University on a basketball scholarship, Smith says, he needed to keep up intense training, which proved difficult at the North Preston Community Centre because the gym was perpetually booked.

"I found myself on the bus to Cole Harbour, which is a 10 to 15 minute bus ride, to go have to train the way that I needed to," Smith says. "It was always a desire of mine to rebuild the basketball court so the kids had the access to train as much as they want to without restriction."

Smith says it was a long and stressful process but he's excited to see how it will affect the community.

"I wrote a proposal to the city and told them I was going to fundraise the money myself and the rest is history and got the ball rolling from there," Smith says, insisting he didn't intend the pun.

The rest of the funding came from corporate sponsorships and private donations.

"When I was growing up there was a lot of kids from the neighbourhood who were going to university and college for basketball and they were getting scholarships but very few of them were staying in their course and graduating and getting their degree," Smith says.

"I didn't really know why that was but once I got to university I almost failed out myself."

Smith says he realized that those who weren't doing well academically lacked support and preparation for university.

"Once they get to university they've got to kick it into second gear and lock in and figure out whatever they have to do to get their degree and the opportunity that basketball is going to give to them," he says.