Oakville Basketball Club - Oakville, Ontario

Chelsea R.

Excellent Basketball Program!

Oakville Basketball Club has been an amazing experience. The coaches are knowledgeable, supportive, and truly care about the development of each player both on and off the court. The training sessions are well-structured, and there’s a great balance between skill development, teamwork, and fun. The club is passionate about helping youth grow as players and as individuals. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a high-quality basketball program in the area

krista F.

My son played rep ball for a season with Coach Toney, and it was a huge disappointment. Let me preface this by saying that I played basketball competitively for many years including 5 years of CIAU (university) basketball. I have had many coaches over the years, as well as have coached teams myself. I have never experienced a coach as terrible as Coach Toney. I firmly believe that a coach should be respected, and the players should work hard, be disciplined, and not be babied. At first I liked Coach Toney's no-bullshit approach. He was tough on the boys, and I thought it was good for them - that they would learn discipline and hard work and respect for their coaches and the game. Soon I realized that Toney didn't really care about the boys. He would sometimes roll in late, sometimes would leave early, sometimes wouldn't show up at all (even was a no-show at a game, and nobody, including the assistant coach knew where he was). He was belittling to the kids. VERY belittling... he would mock them instead of positively and constructively help them learn and grow. He couldn't handle taking any constructive critism or even questions from the parents. In fact, if he received criticism, he would double down on the criticized behaviour to make a point that he was the boss. Also, after speaking to other clubs, I found out that Toney's rep program cost several hundred dollars more and was only part of the OBL, when other teams charged less and were part of the OBL and CYBL. Another reason for my 1* rating, is that after 7 months of playing together, the team had no strategy. When they played their first game, they didn’t even know where to stand for a free throw. I attended every practice, and never once saw anyone teach them proper form for shooting the ball. At provincials, a friend of mine, who coached an opposing team came up to me afterwards and said “for the first few minutes of the game, we tried to figure out what plays you were running, but we quickly realized you weren’t running any plays”… that pretty much says it all. The boys on the team were so naturally athletic and talented, and had so much unrealized potential.

My last point to make is that the boys were trained by a personal trainer, which was a great idea for building strength and endurance. The problem was there were multiple ages training together, and there was no differentiation in the boys needs and capabilities. Some of the things the older boys were asked to do, the younger boys shouldn’t have been doing based on their growth and development. Toney turned a deaf ear to this as well.

Bottom line, there are other options around Oakville for Rep basketball (Milton, Mississauga and Burlington), and given the choice, I would explore these options instead of handing over your money to Oakville Basketball.

My son also was enrolled in micro ballers initially, but the mass numbers of kids in attendance made skill development impossible. It was chaotic.

All of this being said, the players, assistant coach, team manager and the parents were fantastic, and we left the season having had a positive experience overall. It was a good life learning lesson for my son as well… just because someone makes you feel badly about yourself, doesn’t mean you have to believe it… even if he is a person in an authority position. Toney’s coaching opened the door to discussions with our son about rising above the noise, and playing better because of it.

I have read some of the 5* reviews here, and would like to note that the admin for the team actively solicits 5* reviews, sending emails out to the parents, asking not just to review the program (which would be acceptable), but to give them 5 stars. This is likely due to all of the 1* reviews posted. So, please read them with a grain of salt. Some of the parents who wrote them have the interest of their sons and daughters in mind… they want them to make the team and keep playing.

Carlotta E.

My daughter's skills have really improved since she has joined the TTG Skill league program which runs on Sundays at QEP. We love watching her games cheering her on. The Coaches are positive, attentive and enthusiastic encouraging the players to work hard and have fun.

Brandon B.

If I could, I would give this place ZERO STARS.

There was ONLY one coach for two teams, and he wasn't even doing anything. All he did was stand there and dribble his own ball (he wouldn't check-in with anybody), he would not bother to teach anybody (just looked at the time and then told everybody to come in, very briefly explain it (just several words) and tell us to go).

I wasn't even able to withdraw from this class. Furthermore, the exact same coach shows a lot of bias and does not treat all players fairly (meaning that he is in violating of the Coach's Code of Conduct). My basketball was quite far from the border of the court, whereas another student's basketball was practically in the court, and I got yelled at. I was told to put my ball back onto the wall, which I did and the kid "whose ball posed a safety hazard" wasn't even told to pick it up and move it. Additionally, I was told to do ten push-up just for the "inconvenience" and that "I was wasting his time" (he wasn't even doing anything). I did the push-ups properly and guess what? He thought that I couldn't do push-ups, then began to say (very loudly) that I would just embarrass myself for a few moments, and that I could not do push-ups.

Then, he told me to get into line for the next drill. So, I did it. And out of the blue, he just tells me to "drop and give him another ten," what is this kind of coaching?

There's more. He then called me lazy in front of everybody there. I work hard every class, but he just said, "You have been lazy every class." What is that supposed to mean? There are kids who I have seen just stand there and not pay attention, why is he not scolding them?

I'm not even done. The class itself is horrible, there are kids who are in first grade all the way up to tenth grade. How are we supposed to be able to play a fair game of basketball? They are just greedy people who want money.

Despite the coach being unfair and biased, the owner Tony comes by once in a while and just blatantly yells at us. He got my attention in an extremely rude way by saying, "Hello? Can you hear me?" (which is just openly yelled in a fierce manner). I responded politely that I could hear him and then the next moment he yells, "Move it. Why are you all the way over there?" I start going over to tell him that he was being extremely rude, but he didn't want to hear it.

So, don't come to Oakville Basketball Club. They don't treat all players fairly based on sporting activities, regardless of race, place of origin, athletic potential, and other conditions. It is a big waste of your money and an unsafe community.

P.S. The coach that I have been talking about is a short, stout man who normally wears a hat (he won't tell you his name).

Amarjit G.

Should be Zero stars. Terrible experience. 1 coach for 2 teams, and while he shares refereeing duties. I raised a concern about the coach and the owner Tony, who cared even less, didn't even pivot while discussing the issue. I emailed multiple times and had to reach out for a follow-up that Tony was supposed to do. In the end, he said it was the 1st complaint he received about the coaching- 1 player consistently not passing to anyone, looking at the other reviews.. bold lie. Save your money.

Victoria C.

My son improved greatly from his rep season with Coach Toney, they are well organized and offered many extra practices throughout the season. Toney’s focus on development and also fun is a direct reflection in the results of the season and the new found confidence of this years U10 rep team.

Anna B.

Agree with Koko’s review. House league was a good experience. Rep was a disappointment. Does not feel like this team invests in coaching or cares about kids. My kid got into other leagues but chose OBL because he had 24 hrs to decide and OBL holds their tryouts before other teams. If you’re in that scenario, recommend you wait for other team acceptances or stay in house league.

Frédéric S.

As a parent of a child who is in the 2024/25 rep season, I must sadly state that every negative comment made by Venom Basketball represents a sad but true situation. It is very sad because all these young boys who have a passion for the game have been so screwed over by simply money-greedy management