We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Hilda Mateiu. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Hilda below.
Hi Hilda, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
I grew up in a relatively low-income community, and being part of a basketball team played a significant role in staying out of trouble and feeling integrated as a kid and a teenager. My family was supportive, but I could start playing and being optimistic because of the community and the local non-profit groups who offered support.
That is why I feel optimistic and positive about San Marcos Basketball, the only non-profit sports organization for competitive basketball in San Marcos. This organization, which I started with other volunteer coaches, is a rich source of optimism, hope, and motivation as we strive to support talented basketball players from families with a difficult financial situation and gifted, hard-working players in general. We want to support our community and make our training programs free for all players.
And, of course, I have already managed to see the basketball teams growing and winning in tournaments and leagues in the last couple of years, which only boosts my optimism for the future as well.
In fact, we started San Marcos Basketball with only one team comprised of recreational basketball players who could not train at other facilities because they could not afford the equipment, the club fees, game participation fees, and so on. Some of the kids never played competitive games, but we did not lose motivation. We trained hard for a year, making them a winning championship team.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am Hilda Mateiu, the founder of San Marcos Basketball. I’m also a team manager and volunteer coach, along with other passionate basketball coaches who offer their time and knowledge even if they don’t get paid. I played basketball for eight years through middle school and high school, and as I mentioned, I grew up in a rather low-income community where playing basketball and growing as a player was possible due to the support from non-profit organizations.
This inspired me to start my own basketball non-profit (this and the fact that there were no such organizations for basketball players in San Marcos), and right now, I am focused on SMBBALL’s mission: providing an accessible medium for other passionate young basketball players to develop their fundamental skills from shooting, ball-handling and passing to coordination, agility, and teamwork, while also encouraging a healthy mindset on competition.
And, of course, I’m focused on the core goal of San Marcos Basketball, which is to provide programs free of charge. We’re still not there yet, as we need the support of our community, but our training programs are currently more accessible than what basketball clubs can offer, and we provide scholarships to low-income players whenever we have the resources.
We have over 60 players, both boys and girls, and we wish to support them in getting into middle and high school basketball teams. If you are a basketball fan or just curious about our organization, check out our San Marcos Thunder and San Marcos Flames teams’ games and come cheer up on them.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I believe resilience, hard work, and teamwork were most impactful in my journey with San Marcos Basketball. I mean, I started this non-profit approximately three years ago with just one team, and we were losing all basketball games. We were a small organization, and no one knew about us or supported us, and there was the COVID-19 pandemic situation as well.
You can easily imagine how this was not the most promising or simple beginning. I had to be resilient and patient, and teamwork was a huge must, as I could not do all this alone. As a coach or coach assistant, you also need to know how to keep the team’s spirit up, keep the kids motivated, and don’t give up on them. All we achieved was due to teamwork, hours of hard basketball practice, and staying on the positive, patient side.
If you are on a similar journey, my advice is to trust yourself and your team, ask for help, learn together, and learn from mistakes. Don’t be afraid to lean on others when you need to. You are never alone or alone responsible for the team’s success. You need to communicate and see if you are on the same page and are working towards the same goal. And again, patience and resilience!
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
If you’ve been playing high school or college basketball and are willing to volunteer your time to San Marcos Basketball as a coach, we would really appreciate the help. I know time is precious, and not everyone can afford to offer their time to training young basketball players and not get paid. But if you are a passionate coach and can help us, contact us at [email protected].
Our non-profit is also looking for potential sponsors. As I mentioned, we offer full and partial scholarships to basketball players who come from families that struggle financially, whose parents are divorced, separated, or widowed, who are veterans or active duty military, or who are caring for a family member with a disability. Unfortunately, we don’t always have the resources to offer the scholarships, so any sponsorship or donation means a lot to San Marcos Baseball. If you want to support us as a business, corporation, or individual, go to our website (we have a donation page), contact us via phone or email, and we’ll discuss how to proceed, or simply spread the word about our efforts.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.smbball.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sanmarcosthunder/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smbball/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/san-marcos-basketball-san-marcos
