The Western PA Bruins are excited to announce a partnership with 5th Street Gym AAU Basketball program to facilitate their expansion into Blair, Indiana and Cambria Counties.
The initial season for this new venture, which will be called Western PA Bruins-Tri County, will be 2019. There will be a 9th grade team and a 7th grade team in the first season with plans for additional teams in the future.
Scott Cook, who has successfully built 5th Avenue Gym into a competitive AAU program in two short years, will coach and be the point person for Western PA Bruins-Tri-County. Cook has led 5th Avenue Gym to a record of 57-6 and 15 tournament championships over the last two seasons. Cook will be assisted by Kelley Goss.
“We have a good base of talent in the Tri-County region and we were able to build a competitive program with 5th Avenue Gym,” Cook said. “It has been my goal to build a program for players in the Indiana County area to play at a competitive AAU level. I believe that merging with a nationally recognized program and expanding the area to include Blair Country and Cambria County as well, will allow us to do just that.
“We want to attract players who are interested in playing at the collegiate level and the Western PA Bruins track record of producing successful college players is unmatched.”
Cook, who is a chiropractor and the father of four children, played basketball at Saint Bonaventure and Westminster College. He has extensive experience coaching youth and AAU basketball and has worked numerous camps over the years.
“We are happy to be able to expand our reach into an area that has always been rich with talented players,” Western PA Bruins executive director John Tate said. “Over the past two years, I have watched Scott Cook’s team compete and have been extremely impressed by his commitment and the level that they play at. Scott is extremely talented coach and excellent role model and we are happy to bring him on board to lead this new venture.”
For more information on the Western PA Bruins-Tri County teams, please contact Scott Cook at (724) 599-7330. In addition, you can follow the Western PA Bruins-Tri County on Twitter (@BruinsTriCounty) for important information and upcoming events.