The nonprofit engine behind Crown Hub — closing the opportunity gap for Pocono Mountain youth through athletics, academics, and access.
Crown Roots Foundation exists to fund, develop, and sustain structured youth basketball programming in the Pocono Mountain region — an area with zero girls AAU programs, limited athletic infrastructure, and families who cannot afford to drive an hour each way for competitive development.
We believe that where you grow up should not determine whether you grow. Every young athlete on the mountain deserves the same access to development, mentorship, and college-readiness pathways that Valley families take for granted.
A Pocono Mountain where youth basketball is not an afterthought — where girls don't have to transfer to Bethlehem Catholic to compete, where families don't choose between a part-time job and off-season training, and where the mountain develops and keeps its own talent.
Crown Hub is the program that Crown Roots Foundation supports. It is a comprehensive youth basketball organization that combines:
Structured, local basketball leagues that give Mountain athletes year-round competitive experience without the 45-60 minute drive to the Valley.
Clinics, training camps, and individual skill development led by qualified coaches — building the pipeline that has never existed on the mountain.
Basketball as a vehicle for academic accountability. Players are students first, with GPA requirements, tutoring access, and college prep built into the program.
A national college database, financial literacy workshops, and mentorship connections that help Pocono families navigate higher education affordability.
The numbers tell part of the story. The rest plays out in gyms, living rooms, and transfer paperwork across the Poconos every year:
Parents aren't championing basketball year-round. Many families expect coaches to develop their daughters entirely within the regular season. When schools hold open gyms in the off-season, attendance is minimal. The culture of year-round development that Valley programs take for granted does not exist here.
Varsity-level girls prioritize work over basketball. In economically disadvantaged households, a part-time job isn't optional — it's survival. Girls who could be developing their game are instead working shifts, because no one has built a local pathway that makes basketball worth the tradeoff.
The best players leave. Girls who do excel and find their way into competitive basketball often join Valley AAU programs out of necessity — there is nothing for them here. And the ones who develop into standout players? They transfer to private institutions like Bethlehem Catholic, which has built one of the region's strongest girls programs. The mountain develops talent, then watches it walk out the door.
Girls aren't watching basketball. Without local role models, competitive programs, or visible pathways, girls on the mountain aren't growing up as basketball fans or aspiring players. The pipeline doesn't just leak — it was never built.