CALEDONIA—Growing up in the Fox Hill district of Nassau, Bahamas, Latrel Hinzey dreamed of a career as an NBA superstar that would take him far away from the harsh realities of his life at the time.
“It was really bad when I was growing up. I never saw a day where someone wasn’t dead or murdered. That was my environment,” said Hinzey.
Growing up without a father, Hinzey’s mother drove him to challenge himself, waking up before dawn and maintaining a disciplined approach to life.
“Because I wanted to go to the NBA, I’d wake up and do my push-ups and my pull-ups and go for runs; I’d dribble the ball 100 times; I’d put it through my legs 100 times. Everything I did was for a purpose,” said Hinzey.
That drive served him well. Mimicking YouTube clips of his NBA heroes Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant led to Hinzey being ranked 24th best player in the Bahamas in his Grade 12 year. After emailing coaches around the world, Hinzey heard back from Ancaster-based Redeemer University.
He spent a year working at the famous Atlantis resort to save enough money for his first year, arriving in Canada five years ago at age 23.
“Going through Redeemer University changed my whole perspective of the game…. You got guys 6’7, 7’ dribbling the ball. I’m only 5’7,” recalled Hinzey. “My dreams got crushed pretty quickly.”
Rather than wallowing, Hinzey dedicated himself to helping others pursue their own hoop dreams: “I’m still thinking about the future in a positive way,” he said, noting he still dreams of making it to the NBA as a “coach or a stats guy.”
While attending Redeemer, Hinzey met his now-wife, who had played for the Haldimand Huskies in high school.
After moving to Caledonia together, Hinzey was hitting the courts when he met some current Huskies players who invited him to reach out to the club president.
“He said, ‘Come out for a practice and we’ll see how it is from there’,” said Hinzey.
After observing a team practice in Hagersville, Hinzey knew he had found a place to put his passion for the game to work.
He became an assistant coach in 2024 before being promoted to head coach of the U15 team, where he is affectionately known as Coach Trelly.
He recalled an exasperated coach from a Toronto-based team chastising his players at a tournament, saying, “’You guys are letting this farm team beat you?’ That’s what he said…. Me hearing other coaches say things like that, it gives me a good feeling…. The kids are playing the game so well you have to try and put them down for the area they’re living.”
Over the past three seasons, the team has risen from division 13 to division 6 to division 2 and has won the championship two seasons in a row – changing the tone of competitors.
“For our last tournament, when we were walking in the gym, the parents were saying, ‘This is the team to beat right here’,” recalled Hinzey.
Hinzey’s approach to the game is based on a full-court defensive strategy.
“When I first met them, they didn’t like defence,” he said. “What makes me proud is not them scoring but seeing them dive on the ground for the ball, … seeing them play full court defence for the whole game.”
“We’re such a well put together team, the players on the bench clap and root for their team, and when the starters go on the bench, they clap for the bench guys,” he continued. “It’s a great feeling to see these boys becoming young men.”
Hinzey is so well-liked by the community he was asked by his players’ parents to continue training in the off-season.
That has now ballooned into a free, summer-long, drop-in fitness program every Saturday, meeting on the McKinnon Park Secondary School track at 10:30 a.m.
“I don’t charge anybody to come out to the park at McKinnon and work on their endurance and stamina,” said Hinzey. “It’s all love in Caledonia.”
He welcomed anyone, any age, to take part in this weekly strength, endurance, and speed training, with each week ending with a game of basketball.
“Just drop in and come run with the boys,” he invited.
Hinzey’s positive attitude and disciplined approach are now leading to accolades outside the school community. He was recently named Young Leader of the Year by the Caledonia Chamber of Commerce.
“It meant so much to me, because I used to do this exact same thing in my community back home and nobody cared about it,” said Hinzey. “This is my life. I love sports, and I love being around kids and teaching them. I’m very serious about it.”
Hinzey hopes his players take the lessons he’s taught far beyond the court.
“I try to teach them life skills and how to do things with effort and pride. Don’t do things because the coach told you to do them – do them because you actually care,” he said. “When they do good things, I tell them, ‘If you do this in life in the future, you’ll be set up well, you’ll be in the right spot, and people are going to want you around them.’”
With discipline and passion, Hinzey is setting the standard for a new generation of young people rising up in the community. He is thankful for the positive role basketball has played in his life.
“It moved me out of the hood and into a better environment so I could do better things with my life.”
