meet COACH BATES

Born and raised in Salisbury NC, Kenneth Bates is a lifelong athlete. He had a passion for several sports at North Rowan High School and attended Catawba College on a baseball scholarship where he graduated with a B.S. in Physical Education (emphasis in Kinesiology) and a Minor in Adolescent Psychology. After playing minor league baseball for the Baltimore Oriole Farm System, he taught at Salisbury High School and coached the varsity football and basketball teams.

Always passionate about training, Kenneth started LAABWORK as a tool to help young men and women realize that anything is possible with hard work, a good attitude and the right preparation. LAABWORK has been fortunate to team up with a number of area YMCAs – including Fulton, Stokes, Jerry Long and Gateway -- to offer its Youth Basketball Academy and Kenneth is also the Hot Hoops Director for Camp Hanes. Over the past 4 years, LAABWORK has trained thousands of boys and girls of all ages throughout the State of North Carolina. Kenneth is currently partnered with the Gateway YWCA and is looking forward to doing many great things for the community.

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For four years, Kenneth coached Chris Paul’s 14 & 15U CP3 All-Stars AAU teams (2 consecutive years finishing in the top 10 in the country), while assisting with Summer Camps held by Nike and NBA players like Chris Paul and retired NBA player Bobby Jackson. LAABWORK currently trains a number of exceptional middle school and high school players -- including Harry Giles (ranked as high as #1 in the Class of 2016) http://youtu.be/TkvwYCUAqcU , Damon Harge Jr. (ranked as high as the #1 PG in the Class of 2017) http://youtu.be/STpjGqxyevs and Greg McClinton (currently a Wake Forest University sophomore) http://youtu.be/STpjGqxyevs  – and have been instrumental in helping more than 100 current/former players secure college scholarships in their sport of choice. In 2012 LAABWORK assisted 26 of its athletes in receiving scholarships for basketball, football and soccer. 2013 LAABWORK helped 22 more of its clients in receiving college scholarships for football and basketball. The class of 2016 is anticipated to produce LAABWORK’s biggest class with estimated 30+ of its athletes, both male and female, currently being recruited by D1 and D2 schools.  

 

An extensive background in both sports and Mental Health provides Kenneth with a unique insight into players and their needs – whether they are young children just starting out or professional athletes in mid-career. Most importantly, he understands that optimum results can only be achieved by developing the whole player – mentally, physically, and emotionally