Basketball Court Construction in Progress

Volunteer Trip, 2025 – Nico Angelo 

Nico Angelo is a student at Los Gatos High School who loves sports, especially basketball, and enjoys classes in history, English, and social justice. When the opportunity arose to join the Volunteer trip to work at Doris Dillon School last year, Nico was not sure what he would like to teach the students – until he realized that he could teach the fundamentals of basketball!  

It was a great decision, and his classes were a huge success! He taught the kids (and teachers!) the rules of the game and the basic skills of defense, offense, and passing the ball. The kids caught on quickly and loved playing. There was a lot of joy on the makeshift court last February!

As Nico explains: “Knowing the kids had never heard of basketball, I arrived with little expectation. What I found were the most engaging, curious, and loving kids. They took to the game with passion and spirit; the smiles and laughter never stopped. Even the teachers and school staff. By the end of the week, we were playing basketball.” 

The kids played, barefooted, with a makeshift hoop he and his dad had put together, held in place with rice bags filled with dirt. Nico wanted the kids to have a proper court.  He suggested to Denise and Jim that if the school allows, he would raise money to build a proper basketball court. He started a GoFundMe project, which has so far raised over $8,000.  Construction is now underway, and the court will be ready by February 2026 for volunteer week. If there is any extra money, it will be used for equipment and supplies, including, perhaps, tennis shoes for the kids.  https://www.gofundme.com/f/build-a-basketball-court-for-a-cambodian-village-school

Nico is excited to return to Doris Dillon School in 2026, eager to continue teaching basketball. As well as working on skills, he plans to introduce American ideas of sports safety. The high school that most of these children will eventually attend has a basketball program, and if they can enter high school with strong academic skills and some experience with basketball, they should have a nice headstart.    

Overall, this was a great experience for Nico!  He was touched by the friendliness and resilience of the children, and he enjoyed learning about Cambodia.