Mike Sanor (The Camp founder and director)
Was a local kid that was born and raised right here in the Treasure Valley.
Mike grew up in the Boise Public School system, attending elementary school, Jr. High School and High School right here in Boise Idaho. Mike was ultimately known for his willingness to take on any challenge put in front of him. He had the same difficulties that many kids have faced while growing up trying to fit in, not understanding the pressure others try to put on people to tear others down trying to lift themselves up. He was told by his peers that he couldn’t dribble well enough to be a good basketball player. He got his height at a very early age, and was told that he was too slow and too clumsy to be a good basketball player. With those challenges, he had great difficulty competing at even simple games like H.O.R.S.E.
If it weren’t for coaches along his path that encouraged him to ‘Never give up’, he tells his story over and over that his life could have and would have been a very different story. When trying to learn to play baseball, He was coached by baseball coaches who saw the difficulty he had with his ‘Large Strike Zone’, and minimal coordination skills. One coach saw the frustration on his face, and told him, “Mike, You gotta step up there and ‘Believe’ that you are going to hit the ball when it is in your strike zone”. He never became the greatest hitter around, but, he found ways to compete, and help his team succeed.
Basketball was still the thing that consumed his free time and summers. He taught himself to spin a basketball on his finger by practicing and practicing while walking to and from neighborhood friends’ homes. He practices so much that his fingers actually bled. So, he put a bandage on the bleeding finger, and moved to the next finger to keep practicing until that one bled too. He was determined to be something that others told him he could not be. He had already learned to ‘Believe’, and it was time to "Never Give Up!”
Mike made it thru elementary school, continuing to practice every chance he had. He played Basketball and ran track in Jr. High and High School to overcome his perceived lack of quickness and speed. He didn’t win all the races, but, there was a reason above’ winning’ to compete! His Faith in his God given abilities was tested many more times through those years, and those challenges fueled him all the way to being named First Team All-State by his senior year. As a decent player, on teams that barely finished seasons over .500 team, Mikes abilities had very few college scouts watching him or offering scholarships.
He took a partial scholarship at Northwest Nazarene College (he washed dishes in their cafeteria to cover some of the remainder of his tuition), and with his difficulties, even at a NAIA college, he struggled to find time on the court. The coach was a positive person, but, still Mike felt like he had an uphill battle to fight. Fueled by his Faith, by the end of his freshman year, he had earned a role as a ‘hard working’ defensive battler with the guidance of some of his more senior teammates. He would stand in with the biggest and most physical player the other teams had, and find a way to have a positive impact for his team. This got him considerable more time as a sophomore and he was finally beginning to blossom into what he had been working towards all these long summers of practicing and practicing.
It was after his sophomore year that he and his father were sitting in the stands of a Boise State University Basketball game, when his dad said the words that would change things forever in Mike’s life. It was a simple as “Do you think you could play with these guys?” The answer was ‘Yes’. Mike withdrew from N.N.C. and became a ‘walk on’ at B.S.U. He had another area he had to prove himself in.
At Boise State, he was a part of the ‘Blue Crew’. (The second “more like third” team that takes a pounding from the Starters and substitute players, and dummies the other teams offense for the guys that actually play) This was/is a thankless job, and many players in the same position ‘walked off’ and couldn’t find a way to finish what they had started. That entire season, he sat on the very last seat on the bench and watched, as the guys he was being punished by daily, got their opportunities to compete in the regular season and post season games.
That summer, fueled by the passion and fire of one of the assistant coaches, he worked harder than ever before running and jumping up the bleachers of the Bronco’s football stadium multiple times per week with the rest of the Hard Working team, in the middle of 105 degree days in the Idaho sun. He played in every pickup game that there was over the summer (That he could make before or after working each day). By the time the next season came around, he had worked at a bank as a teller to make enough money to pay for his second year at Boise State, and continue his Computer degree.
Thankfully someone was watching all of his hard work, and Mike had decided that no matter what, He was not just going to ‘finish’ school and his remaining two years of basketball eligibility, but, he was going to ‘Finish Strong’.
School had started, and he was ready to take his beatings, and hope for ‘scrub’ minutes at the end of the games that were blowouts (one way of the other).
But, then things changed…
Mike was called into the head basketball coach’s office and was directed to sit down in the chair directly across the desk from the head coach. (This is it he thought…It’s all over now.) The coach asked him what his plans were for the upcoming year. “I have already paid my tuition, and I am enrolled in school” Mike replied. There was a long pause, and Bobby Dye said. ‘Well, I think you need to go and get your money back.’ (Yup, It’s over – Mike thought they don't want me here at all...), “because we have decided that we cannot go into this year without a guy that works as hard as you do!”.
That season, with Mike on the team, he maintained his role as a defensive ‘workaholic’ and contributed in every single game they played that season, helping the team complete what was and still is ‘The Best Regular Season Record’ in school history.
They played in The National Invitational Tournament (N.I.T.) that year, and won only the schools second ever post season basketball game, before they lost a hard fought game to the Washington Huskies. The next season the team again won a record number of games, but, this year they were not to be denied a Conference tournament Championship. The Bronco’s made it to the NCAA (March Madness) Tournament, and played a Michigan team with 6 players that made it into the NBA.
His senior season Mike was honored with the conference designation and ‘The 6th man of the year’. He was rewarded for his willingness to do whatever it took to help his team succeed!
It was quite an accomplishment for the kid that was too slow, too clumsy and couldn’t shoot well enough to ever be a ‘good’ basketball player by their standards.
For those simple reasons, and in honor of his youth and college coaches along that way, never gave up on him, and helped him find Faith in his God given talents and abilities, to the understanding of the trials and tough times kids have growing up, Mike started and still runs ‘Rise Up Sports!’
And the motto has never changed…
Believe, Never Give Up, Finish Strong!
Was a local kid that was born and raised right here in the Treasure Valley.
Mike grew up in the Boise Public School system, attending elementary school, Jr. High School and High School right here in Boise Idaho. Mike was ultimately known for his willingness to take on any challenge put in front of him. He had the same difficulties that many kids have faced while growing up trying to fit in, not understanding the pressure others try to put on people to tear others down trying to lift themselves up. He was told by his peers that he couldn’t dribble well enough to be a good basketball player. He got his height at a very early age, and was told that he was too slow and too clumsy to be a good basketball player. With those challenges, he had great difficulty competing at even simple games like H.O.R.S.E.
If it weren’t for coaches along his path that encouraged him to ‘Never give up’, he tells his story over and over that his life could have and would have been a very different story. When trying to learn to play baseball, He was coached by baseball coaches who saw the difficulty he had with his ‘Large Strike Zone’, and minimal coordination skills. One coach saw the frustration on his face, and told him, “Mike, You gotta step up there and ‘Believe’ that you are going to hit the ball when it is in your strike zone”. He never became the greatest hitter around, but, he found ways to compete, and help his team succeed.
Basketball was still the thing that consumed his free time and summers. He taught himself to spin a basketball on his finger by practicing and practicing while walking to and from neighborhood friends’ homes. He practices so much that his fingers actually bled. So, he put a bandage on the bleeding finger, and moved to the next finger to keep practicing until that one bled too. He was determined to be something that others told him he could not be. He had already learned to ‘Believe’, and it was time to "Never Give Up!”
Mike made it thru elementary school, continuing to practice every chance he had. He played Basketball and ran track in Jr. High and High School to overcome his perceived lack of quickness and speed. He didn’t win all the races, but, there was a reason above’ winning’ to compete! His Faith in his God given abilities was tested many more times through those years, and those challenges fueled him all the way to being named First Team All-State by his senior year. As a decent player, on teams that barely finished seasons over .500 team, Mikes abilities had very few college scouts watching him or offering scholarships.
He took a partial scholarship at Northwest Nazarene College (he washed dishes in their cafeteria to cover some of the remainder of his tuition), and with his difficulties, even at a NAIA college, he struggled to find time on the court. The coach was a positive person, but, still Mike felt like he had an uphill battle to fight. Fueled by his Faith, by the end of his freshman year, he had earned a role as a ‘hard working’ defensive battler with the guidance of some of his more senior teammates. He would stand in with the biggest and most physical player the other teams had, and find a way to have a positive impact for his team. This got him considerable more time as a sophomore and he was finally beginning to blossom into what he had been working towards all these long summers of practicing and practicing.
It was after his sophomore year that he and his father were sitting in the stands of a Boise State University Basketball game, when his dad said the words that would change things forever in Mike’s life. It was a simple as “Do you think you could play with these guys?” The answer was ‘Yes’. Mike withdrew from N.N.C. and became a ‘walk on’ at B.S.U. He had another area he had to prove himself in.
At Boise State, he was a part of the ‘Blue Crew’. (The second “more like third” team that takes a pounding from the Starters and substitute players, and dummies the other teams offense for the guys that actually play) This was/is a thankless job, and many players in the same position ‘walked off’ and couldn’t find a way to finish what they had started. That entire season, he sat on the very last seat on the bench and watched, as the guys he was being punished by daily, got their opportunities to compete in the regular season and post season games.
That summer, fueled by the passion and fire of one of the assistant coaches, he worked harder than ever before running and jumping up the bleachers of the Bronco’s football stadium multiple times per week with the rest of the Hard Working team, in the middle of 105 degree days in the Idaho sun. He played in every pickup game that there was over the summer (That he could make before or after working each day). By the time the next season came around, he had worked at a bank as a teller to make enough money to pay for his second year at Boise State, and continue his Computer degree.
Thankfully someone was watching all of his hard work, and Mike had decided that no matter what, He was not just going to ‘finish’ school and his remaining two years of basketball eligibility, but, he was going to ‘Finish Strong’.
School had started, and he was ready to take his beatings, and hope for ‘scrub’ minutes at the end of the games that were blowouts (one way of the other).
But, then things changed…
Mike was called into the head basketball coach’s office and was directed to sit down in the chair directly across the desk from the head coach. (This is it he thought…It’s all over now.) The coach asked him what his plans were for the upcoming year. “I have already paid my tuition, and I am enrolled in school” Mike replied. There was a long pause, and Bobby Dye said. ‘Well, I think you need to go and get your money back.’ (Yup, It’s over – Mike thought they don't want me here at all...), “because we have decided that we cannot go into this year without a guy that works as hard as you do!”.
That season, with Mike on the team, he maintained his role as a defensive ‘workaholic’ and contributed in every single game they played that season, helping the team complete what was and still is ‘The Best Regular Season Record’ in school history.
They played in The National Invitational Tournament (N.I.T.) that year, and won only the schools second ever post season basketball game, before they lost a hard fought game to the Washington Huskies. The next season the team again won a record number of games, but, this year they were not to be denied a Conference tournament Championship. The Bronco’s made it to the NCAA (March Madness) Tournament, and played a Michigan team with 6 players that made it into the NBA.
His senior season Mike was honored with the conference designation and ‘The 6th man of the year’. He was rewarded for his willingness to do whatever it took to help his team succeed!
It was quite an accomplishment for the kid that was too slow, too clumsy and couldn’t shoot well enough to ever be a ‘good’ basketball player by their standards.
For those simple reasons, and in honor of his youth and college coaches along that way, never gave up on him, and helped him find Faith in his God given talents and abilities, to the understanding of the trials and tough times kids have growing up, Mike started and still runs ‘Rise Up Sports!’
And the motto has never changed…
Believe, Never Give Up, Finish Strong!
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