Today we’d like to introduce you to Remi Yusuf.
Remi, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
It all started when I returned home from college and I could not afford a trainer to help me work on my game. I eventually got connected with three Coaches, Byron B. Smith, (Praire View A&M ) Bilal Batley (University of Houston) and Coach Wayne Hall (Shaw University). They all allowed me to come to their workouts free of charge. The only price they required was hard work. It always stuck with me, the generosity of those three Coaches. With their help I became a much better player. I could never afford to pay anyone else for the training sessions they provided to me.
While playing professional basketball overseas, I would return back to the United States in the summer and train kids for free. The kids I worked with were just like me; they wanted to get better, but did not have the financial means to pay for a trainer. After doing that for years, I had a thought… to create a sports organization that gives high-quality skill development training at no cost to the participants. I believed I could find a way to do this, it was just going to take some work on my part. I did not think it was fair that high-quality skill development training was only available to those who could afford it. Talent is talent regardless of how much money a person has.
From that thought came 9th Wonder. Our main focus is to give kids the high quality instruction they would have gotten had they paid for it.
BIO from website:
Remi Yusuf is the founder of Be a 9th Wonder Foundation. He is a Houston native born and raised. He has been married for 6 years with two kids, a son who is four years old, named Shai and a daughter, who is almost two years old, named Sarai’. Growing up on the South East side of Houston, he attended Dobie High School where he helped lead his basketball team to a District championship his senior year but ended up losing in the semi quarterfinals of the state playoffs.
He went on to attend Texas A&M Kingsville where he received a full basketball scholarship and attained his Bachelors in Social Work along with a double minor in Sociology and Psychology. Remi is also certified in Special Education in the State of Texas. During his collegiate career, Yusuf averaged 13.45 points per game in a Javalina uniform from 2002 to 2007 (he sat out 2004-05 due to a shoulder injury) and tailed 1,507 career points becoming the 20th player in school history to surpass the 1,000-point plateau. 2005-06 Yusuf received Player of the Year MVP honors after sitting out a whole season prior to but then returning to lead the LSC conference, North and South in scoring, with averaging a little over 19 points a game. He capped his Tamuk career by placing third on the all-time games played list, second on the steals chart (128) and fifth on the all-time scoring list. Yusuf is in the top ten all-time in points, assists, rebounds, steals, minutes, field goals, and free throws on the single-season and career record books.
Professional Career:
After college, Remi attended Pre Draft workouts with the Houston Rockets but went on to play internationally to further develop his skill set. He played in Colombia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, played on two different teams in
Eastern Europe, Slovakia and was eventually signed by the Houston Rockets in September of 2015 but was later on released.
Vision:
Remi has a huge heart for youth and young adults, with an extra focus on those with special needs. Be a 9th Wonder seeks to foster a supportive culture that values all participants. Remi created an organization that, through sports, helps kids develop a lasting positive found ate for their future. Be A 9th Wonder is comprised of a group of volunteers and partners who seek to help kids implore a lifestyle of self-accountability, setting and achieving goals, being active, hopeful, and resilient. Moreover, 9th Wonder also works to help at-risk youth see the value of the life regardless of their circumstances….your ending can be greater than your beginning.
Remi has been a mentor to over 28 boys and girls and has also assisted local and international student-athletes with finding colleges or prep schools to attend in the United States.
Special Needs:
Believing that everyone is different but equal, Remi has a heart for children with special needs. His younger sister, Marea, was diagnosed with an unknown lung disease at the age of 12 that compromised her lifestyle. She lived a life with many physical challenges that eventually lead to her passing in 2011 at 19 years of age. Remi took note of all the things that his sister missed out on and all the things that she never got an opportunity to do because of her health condition. From this tragedy grew Remi’s desire to work with individuals with special needs, especially young adults and kids.
*He wears Purple in honor and remembrance of his sister, that was her favorite color. She was also born on September 9th, which birthed the name of the Organization… Be A 9th Wonder*
Has it been a smooth road?
No, it has not been a smooth road trying to start up the foundation. There have been some obstacles along the way such as finding sponsors and donors on a consistent basis to help support our vision. In addition, there have been difficulty finding facilities to host our events.
We’d love to hear more about your foundation.
I am the founder and the executive director of the foundation. Our foundation focuses on the education, mentoring and sports (skill development) for youth/adolescents in the community.
With the help of many great volunteers and community partners we have been able to provide many great events in the community (Basketball Showcases Houston and Australia, Basketball Clinics for Children with Special Needs and Disabilities-Houston and Australia, Career and College Readiness Basketball Workshops- Soccer Clinics for Children with and w/o special needs and disabilities and more)
All of our events are free of charge to all participants, all we require is “hard work”. We will never charge a child a monetary fee who is willing to commit and wants to get better at their craft.
Where do you see your industry going over the next 5-10 years? Any big shifts, changes, trends, etc?
In the next 5-10 years I see the Foundation adding after school programs around the city, as well as, having our own facility to hold our events.
In October of 2018, we officially established a new branch in Australia. I will continue to work to grow the Australia branch of 9th Wonder, and we would like to also have branch in Africa. I am looking forward to the continued growth of Be a 9th Wonder. Marea, would be so proud of what I have started and where I am headed with 9th Wonder.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.ninthwonder.org/
- Phone: 832-654-3739
- Email: contact@ninthwonder.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/9thwonderfoundation/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/9thWonderFoundation/
- Twitter: @BeA9thWonder
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
