The concept of forming an A.A.U. basketball Club in the Pioneer Valley started as an idea back in June of 1996. The co-founders of the Lighting are Sam Killings and Jon Endelos. Both Jon and Sam relied upon heavy parental support in the basketball community to provide crucial support to take this venture off the ground. Eleven months later, the Pioneer Valley Lighting has grown from two co-founders to a full Executive Board and a complementary Advisory Board, which provides assistance to the Board's operations.
Though only competing for one year, the Lighting have already built relationships with local media, the University of Massachusetts , and local business. As with any not-for-profit organizations, our structure consists of hard working volunteers that make up the coaching staff and the Board.
Our mission as an organization is to provide and opportunity for young basketball players to get a taste of regional and national competition. However, we are making it a point to also provide some educational opportunity and life skill opportunities to our member-athletes. We hope that through our efforts, we can help build our future with bright young men. The Pioneer Valley Lightning A.A.U. Boys Basketball Club is dedicated to academic and athletic excellence.