Andre Livingston
For about what you’d pay for two family movie nights…*
When Andre Levingston talks about basketball, two things happen. First, he gets nostalgic, talking about what it was like growing up and playing hoops in Detroit. Second, he talks about everything that revolved around the game. “It kept me disciplined, outside of my parents,” he says. “I had a lot of respect for the game. It kept me on the straight and narrow.” You soon start to see that for Levingston, basketball is not just about making plays and scoring points. Although he is the proprietor and manager of the Halifax Rainmen, basketball isn’t simply a business model. For him, it’s a way of reaching out and giving back. Levingston’s path to Halifax started with a missed opportunity to start a team in Ontario. Undeterred, he was told about Halifax, and decided to come check it out. “People here were laidback,” he recalls. “I was shocked at how nice people were, and how willing they were to help. I met with the mayor and business folk, and then I made a decision that I would bring the team in Halifax.” Six years later, the Rainmen’s impact has transcended the court, and has become part of the fabric of the city. One of Levingston’s main sticking points with the Rainmen is that they should be more than a basketball team. He wants them to be role models for kids in the community. So Levingston makes sure that the players on the team reach out to various community and charitable organisations, donating their time and energy to helping and mentoring others. “We want to inspire one another,” he says. “It doesn’t matter where you come from, you can rise. We look to inspire groups of kids, because there are so many things to day that we didn’t have to deal with when we were younger. Kids don’t always know the damage they can do to another. It’s about the value of education and respect for others.” But it’s not only the kids who benefit from these interactions. Levingston believes that reaching out to others is a mirror act, one that affects everyone involved. “At lot of these players come from impoverished communities,” he points out. “They’re used to being defensive all the time, and then they come here and sleep with their doors open. I wasn’t used to it. You see someone coming on the street, you cross it or be on defence. None of those things exist here. They are welcomed with open arms.” He points out that doing work like this is infectious for his team players. “They love doing it, they want to do more. ‘Can we do things on our own,’ they ask me.” It’s not only the kids who are affected by the Rainmen’s participation in reaching out, but their families as well. “We get parents email us, and talk how their kids hated their school, and the Rainmen came and talked about the importance of education,” he says. “We get so many emails, and parents who thank us for what we did, and ‘It made a difference in my child’s life’, and it is one of those things where it means a lot to get an email from a parent that you changed my child’s life. Don’t think you’re not making an impact in your life.” Although the Rainmen are a sports team, and in the end, it is a business, for Levingston, it’s more of a means to an end than a profit margin. “Yes, we want to start the first professional league in Canada, but it’s never been about starting business,” he says. “It’s never been my objective. I didn’t come here to make money, I came to make a difference. Not only with kids on the team, but the community here to make opportunities. It’s about helping people dream. It means so many things. It’s hope.” █
entertain the family for the whole month!
Article: Simon Thibault Photo: Riley Smith
THE MAN BEHIND THE HALIFAX RAINMEN
* Prices are based on adult annual memberships— approximately $50/month.
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