Dream Chasers Basketball Indy fosters physical and mental development for young athletes

Writer: Jon Shoulders
Photographer: Ron Wise and Provided Photos

What began as a fairly informal series of basketball training sessions, given by Fishers-based Harvey Harrington for his daughter and a few of her friends, is steadily evolving into one of Indy’s premier sports programs for youngsters.

In 2016, Harrington, a former IUPUI basketball player and the brother of former Indiana Pacer Al Harrington, began taking his daughter Arianna to various indoor and outdoor basketball courts around Fishers to work on her game fundamentals. Soon, his daughter started bringing some friends, and they, in turn, brought even more friends.

Having coached at Westfield and North Central high schools, and with a long-time passion for the game, Harrington took a look at the growing number of kids showing up to receive his hoops help and realized Fishers could use a structured, all-ages basketball training program. Dream Chasers Basketball Indy, as he officially named his program, has helped more than 40 boys and girls improve their game, and Harrington expects enrollment to increase by the time summer rolls around.

“I looked around in Fishers and didn’t see many options for kids for basketball training, camps clinics and that kind of thing in the immediate area,” recalls Harrington, a New Jersey native who has called Fishers home for the past 11 years. “I wanted something for Fishers that parents could take their kids to in a few minutes.”

After using various gyms around the north side for his training sessions, Harrington realized he needed a home base for Dream Chasers and struck up a partnership last October with Hancock Wellness Center in McCordsville. He currently trains two days per week, year-round, at the facility’s gym off of Olio Road – Mondays are typically devoted to basketball fundamentals like jump shots, passing, ball handling and defense, while Thursdays are geared toward more general physical training, including aerobic conditioning, strength, agility and lateral movement.

“I structure my training sessions according to the group and switch things up a lot so kids don’t get bored,” Harrington says. “For example, if I have a group that I know struggles with shooting the ball off the dribble, then we’ll cater toward that. With my brother having played in the NBA, I’ve watched NBA players like Reggie Miller, Chauncey Billups and LeBron James work out, and I know what it takes. I can train professionals all the way down to kindergarten level.”

Harrington is currently mulling the idea of building out a Dream Chasers league with a season-long series of games but is currently plenty busy focused solely on fundamentals and physical workouts with his Dream Chasers athletes. A father of three with his wife Kia, he also works full-time running his own Office Pride franchise, a nationwide commercial cleaning and janitorial company he opened locally in March of 2014.

“I’ll probably know whether we’ll be able to do full-fledged teams and games by next summer,” he says. “We’ll see how enrollment goes, and I plan to hire some additional high-quality trainers as we grow.”

Dream Chasers training sessions typically break down by age group from kindergarten all the way up to high schoolers and currently include boys and girls from Fishers as well as several players from around the city, including Pike and North Central high schools.

“The only prerequisite is that you have a desire to get better,” Harrington adds. “I want to help kids, through the game of basketball, become better players and great people. In the future, I want people to be able to say that Harvey Harrington has been doing this for 25 years, and his kids continue to come through and get better. That’s what I care about.”

For more details on Dream Chasers Basketball Indy, including registration info, call 317-335-6939 and visit facebook.com/Dreamchasersbasketballindy.

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