High Five Hoops, Bringing Hope Through Hoops

You think Kobe is done? Yes No View Results  Loading ... Polls Archive

ON October 23-25, over 500 street children from Manila and Cebu will participate in the 3rd Annual Hope Sports Fest, thanks to High Five Hope.

The Redmond, Washington-based charitable organization will sponsor Hope Sports Fest 2010 completely free of charge for Philippine street children, ranging from ages 6-17.   Hope Sports Fest is a weekend-long culmination of a multi-month volleyball and basketball program, which include playoffs and finals for girls’ volleyball, and boys’ and girls’ basketball, as well as special events, featured speakers and guests.

All participants are street children living in desperate conditions across Metro Manila and Cebu City. High Five Hope provides the children with food, shoes, uniforms, coaching and competition – all completely free, a true luxury for the participants who have little or nothing.

High Five Hope was founded by Southern California native, Bill Hilf in 2007 after visiting the Philippines while on assignment working with Microsoft. Hilf, a General Manager at Microsoft, was jogging through the streets of Manila one day when he got lost and ended up in a shanty town. With his curious and friendly nature, paired with his 6’ 4” frame, Hilf found himself playing basketball with the local street children, and soon had attracted a small crowd of 50 kids. From there, he was hooked.

“Basketball is a national pastime in the Philippines, and basketball has no other requirements other than a hoop and a ball – anyone, rich or poor, boy or girl, young or old can play,” says Bill Hilf, Founder of High Five Hope, “We use basketball and volleyball as a way to build self-confidence and hope in the children that are in most dire need, but it also provides a forum for healthy living, team building, trust, fair-play, and understanding the value of hard work leading to strong results.  In many ways, we use the basketball court as a training ground for important life lessons that these street children have lost or may have never learned.” Full story here. The website here.