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Coaching Toledo’s Youngest A Calling to Victory

For nearly 35 years, Raymond Scott has coached basketball for children and teens living in and around Toledo. To those he coaches, he is a mentor, father figure and confidant. “All I want to do is keep these kids’ minds focused,” he said.This season, his group, the Toledo Glenwood Elite, is composed of 17 sixth to eighth-graders.The team often travels for tournaments to cities across the state like Annapolis, Oregon and Indianapolis. Born and raised in Toledo, Scott started playing basketball in middle school and continued playing while attending Start High School. His mother was a pastor and had nine children. From when Scott was younger, his mother told him working with children was his calling. “I saw inner-city kids who didn’t have clothes and were hungry.That’s all I thought about.” After graduating, he attended Central State University and played intramural basketball, but his time at the school was short. When his fiancee told him she was expecting a child, Scott dropped out of college and returned home. He then began working and volunteering as a coach at Start High and Glenwood Elementary School. As he was working with these children, Scott’s passion for his work began to grow. “I deal with a lot of single parents and a lot of kids whose dads or moms are not there. But I bring them in and tutor and mentor them.” He says his goal is to mentor children in underprivileged situations and help them stay out of unproductive activities.” Now nearly 35 years into his work, Scott says he’s reached thousands of children and teens in all parts of the

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“I’m there for my kids.”

community, as his efforts span beyond the court and into cultivating encouraging relationships with youth living in the inner city. “If these kids go to court, I’m there. When they’re in my practices, I’m there. I let them know that even when they grow up, I’m there.” While the coach is leading the youth to constructive mindsets and lifestyles in their personal lives, he is also helping them find victory on the court. In their games between September 2020 and February 2021, the team boasted a 90-2 win-loss record. “These kids can do anything they want to do. We have kids who have never traveled out of town or spent the night outside of their homes. Traveling to these games allows them to see outside of their current situations and get an actual grasp of what they can achieve.”