High Level Sport Training takes young athletes from Switzerland to Florida for basketball, American football and athletic development camps — during the Zurich school holidays, with coaches, pros and advisors who have walked the road themselves.
HLST is a non-profit association based in Zurich. We run skill and athletic development camps in Fort Myers, Florida: collegiate-standard hardwood, a performance weight room and a turf field, with flight, accommodation, training and activities organised as one trip.
A programme is only as good as the people in the hall. These are ours — founders, an ambassador who walked the exact path, NBA-level advisors and the coaching staff in Florida.
Joel built High Level Sport Training out of three decades in sport: as an international athlete, as a coach on the sideline, and as the organiser who gets people into the hall in the first place. That combination is why HLST exists as a Swiss non-profit with a foot on American hardwood, rather than as a travel package.
Mike is the one who runs the floor in Florida. A 6-foot-7 forward from Daytona Beach, he spent four years in Division I basketball in the ACC — the level our athletes are being shown — and he coaches the camps from the inside of that experience rather than from a clipboard.
He leads the coaching operation in Fort Myers and sets what a training day actually looks like. He is also the father of HLST ambassador Anthony Polite — two generations on the same pathway, a generation apart.
Max is one of Europe's recognised voices on sneaker culture — the part of basketball that lives outside the court. A French-Guadeloupean author, speaker and consultant, and a former basketball player himself, he is the person who makes sure HLST is about more than training hours: that culture, identity and giving something back travel with the programme.
At HLST he shapes how the programme speaks and looks, and keeps the social side honest: culture and community are part of the training week, not decoration around it. Like Mickaël Piétrus and Joel Arsens, his roots are in Guadeloupe — which is also how the three of them found each other.
Valentina is the first person families, partners and sponsors deal with — and the one who makes sure what was agreed actually holds. Her background sits exactly where the programme lives: the commercial side and the human side of it, learned in two different industries and brought together here.
For parents that combination is the point: the person handling the terms also understands what their child will be doing in Florida — and is reachable in German and English while they are away.
Every athlete we coach wants to know whether the route from Europe to Division I actually works. Anthony Polite is the answer, and he carries our name.
Born in Lugano, schooled in Florida, five seasons of Division I basketball in the ACC, then professional basketball across France, Germany, Spain and Japan — and a place in the Swiss national team squad. Anthony didn't just take the European-to-D1 route; he is what it looks like when it works.
Once per camp, Mickaël comes in for a session that has nothing to do with drills. He talks to the athletes about what the road actually looked like: from Les Abymes in Guadeloupe to Pau-Orthez, to being the 11th pick of the 2003 NBA draft, to ten seasons in the league with Golden State, Orlando, Phoenix, Boston and Toronto, and a EuroBasket bronze medal with France. The setbacks included.
He and founder Joel Arsens are close friends — shared roots in Guadeloupe, and the same conviction about what sport can give a young person who is willing to work for it.
Former collegiate standout and successful high school coach with a proven track record of placing athletes in Division I programs. Mike focuses on fundamentals and player development.
Former collegiate standout and successful high school coach with a proven track record of placing athletes in Division I programs. Demetrius specializes in developing guards and leadership skills.
Enters his 29th season with the HEAT organization and his ninth as Scout/Community Liaison, bringing 42 years of combined NBA experience as assistant coach, player and scout. He scouts at NBA, college and international levels.
Senior consultant surgeon at a Swiss cantonal hospital, specialising in general surgery and traumatology after training in human medicine in Hamburg and posts at several Swiss hospitals. At HLST he holds medical oversight for the training programmes and events — injury protocols, on-site care and the call on what is safe to do.
A 2.01 m forward born in Gonesse, France, Adama played professional basketball in Europe — including a spell in the Real Madrid organisation — and represented Mali internationally. He scouts talent for HLST and advises athletes on the step from European club basketball into the American game.
A college head coach today and a former professional point guard with 11 NBA seasons, primarily with the New York Knicks. Twice named his conference's male athlete of the year in college, and winner of the 1993 Heisman Trophy as a quarterback.
One day, from nine in the morning into the night: an international U18 tournament for women's and men's teams, open contests, live music — and an evening gala game played in front of the same young athletes who stood on that court hours earlier.
International tournament, women's and men's fields on the main court.
DJ, breakdance, slam dunk and three-point — with open qualifiers.
Live sets from the Zurich scene between the games.
The youth titles are decided.
A US college programme from Florida against the Swiss national team, with the contest finals before tip-off and at half-time.
International artists close the day with a headline performance.
Played in front of the young athletes who were on the same court hours earlier. For them the gala game isn't entertainment — it's the level they are being shown.
Guest list as currently confirmed. Supported by the City of Zurich Sports Department, Zurich Tourism and Swiss Basketball.
Partnership enquiriesTell us your child's age, sport and level, and we'll come back with the dates that fit the Zurich school holidays and an honest read on whether a camp makes sense right now.