Jimmy Rogers doesn’t mind traveling to the Final Four.  As a matter of fact, he probably logs more frequent flyer mileage than any of the Friends of the Hoop Historians.  Rogers is the founder and operator of the Brixton Topcats, one of the most respected teams in London, England.  The club’s reputation speaks for itself being three time National League Junior Men’s champions.  Among the players under Rogers’ tutelage is Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng. 

Rogers, who is well respected in the inner-circles of international basketball,  was born in Wales but grew up in an orphanage in Newcastle.  After joining the Army, he played guard on the team who won the national championships in 1965. Stationed in Germany the following year, he played for VFL Osnabruck, which won the German national championships. In 1968, he was picked to play in the British Olympic team.

 
In an all-too-familiar story in British sport, the Topcats remain a wellspring of talent in a desert of financial resources. Rogers started the club in 1981 in an area of south London that most had given up on. A start-up grant soon dried up and since then, money has had to be raised from each of its 70 members. In 1985, Michael Jordan, the legendary Chicago Bulls player and a friend of the club, came to Brixton to open an outdoor court sponsored by Nike.  Since then the club has a state-of-the art facility, but keeps its humble blue collar work ethic.  And there are plenty of successes that follow -- not only in the win column but in molding tomorrow's youth as well.

Rogers simplistic upbringing carries over to his passion for the youth he works with.  "I have never thrown a kid out, because they get rejection all the time, and I don't allow anyone to laugh at anyone else because I can remember what it was like at the start, not knowing how to play. I had one girl here joined us at 17; never done any sport in her life, slightly overweight. Three years later she made the London Towers women's team, national league.” 

Anyone who has ever been involved in coaching can tell you that’s what it is all about.