From Europe to D1 — we bridge the gap between European potential and US college sports.
Skill work and athletic development belong together. We coach basketball and football players on the court and on the field — and we build the strength, speed and durability underneath in the weight room.
Ball handling, finishing, shooting mechanics and decision speed — combined with the jump, deceleration and lateral quickness the game actually demands.
Position-specific speed, first-step explosiveness, contact strength and conditioning that holds up in the fourth quarter — for flag, tackle and college-track athletes.
The base under every sport: strength, sprint mechanics, jumping, conditioning and joint resilience. Open to athletes from any discipline — and to anyone who simply wants to move better.
Plenty of programmes fly European kids to Florida. What decides the value of the week is who is standing on the court when they get there.
A former NBA champion and scout, an NBA referee of nineteen seasons, an eleven-season NBA point guard and Heisman winner, a ten-season NBA forward, and a founder who competed at five European Championships. Not as names on a page — each of them has a defined job in the programme.
Everything happens in Fort Myers, Florida — within a few minutes of each other. Collegiate hardwood for skill work, a full performance weight room for the engine, and turf outside for speed and position work in the Florida sun.
Division I–level hardwood with full-court access, regulation glass and game-day lighting. This is where skill sessions, shooting blocks and scrimmage work happen.
Platforms, racks, bumper plates, sled track and timing gates. Every lift is logged, every sprint timed — this is where the strength and speed numbers get built.
Year-round Florida weather means speed work, route running and conditioning stay outside. Marked turf with cone grids, hurdles and a 40-yard timed lane.
All three facilities sit within a short drive in Fort Myers. Exact addresses and access times are confirmed when you book your first session.
We don't train on feel. Every session has a place in a bigger plan — from the first assessment to competition form. You always know what you're working on, and why.
Movement screening, strength numbers, sprint and jump testing, plus a check for asymmetries and old injuries. The result is a clear performance profile instead of a guess.
Your profile and your season calendar turn into a 12-week cycle with defined blocks: base, strength, power, peak. Every week has a job.
Court and field sessions for ball skills and position work, weight-room sessions for the engine. Every rep gets coached, every load gets logged.
Load management, mobility routines, sleep and nutrition guardrails. We plan recovery as seriously as we plan training.
Same protocol, same conditions. Whatever hasn't moved gets adjusted — and you see your development in black and white.
The weight room is a means to an end. We translate numbers into sport-specific movement and coordinate with your team coach or physio on request.
Train with US coaches. Master high-level techniques.
Four principles that apply to every athlete we coach — from the committed amateur to the college prospect. They decide whether training produces progress or just fatigue.
Two athletes with the same goal don't get the same plan. Starting point, injury history, daily load and sport determine the dosage.
Stimulus rises on a plan — week by week, block by block. No permanent red line, but controlled overload with deload weeks built in.
Every session is logged, every six weeks retested. We make decisions from data, not from opinions.
Prevention isn't an add-on module — it's part of every session: trunk, ankle, hip, shoulder. Athletes who stay available develop fastest.
Our camps take European athletes onto American courts and fields — coached by US staff, scouted by people who place players in Division I programs, and rounded out with the cultural side of American sport.
Two court sessions a day with US coaches: fundamentals, shooting mechanics, guard development and leadership work, plus strength and conditioning blocks.
Game play in front of coaches and scouts, film review, a written evaluation report and a highlight video — the step that turns training into a recruiting conversation.
Preparation at home between camps: training plan, academic and eligibility guidance, highlight-film support and direct introductions through our US network.
Five hours north to a major Division I campus: a guided tour, a training and skill-development session on site, and a "Meet the Pros" session with a Heisman Trophy winner who played 11 NBA seasons and coaches at college level today. The group stays overnight.
Skill development with a state-champion high school head coach at a training centre named after an NBA all-star, followed by a tour of the school — one of the most storied basketball programmes in Florida.
A live NBA game in Miami with floor access before tip-off where available. The athletes see the level they are training towards from a few metres away.
Every family receives the full packing list, the detailed day-by-day schedule and the house addresses with their booking confirmation.
Final call: camps sell out. Secure your elite training spot before the registration deadline.
A camp week is not a series of drills that happen to fill the day. Every session belongs to one of six development areas, and every athlete is measured in all six at the start and at the end of their stay.
The base every level is built on, rebuilt properly rather than patched. Corrected rep by rep, on camera.
Skills only count when they survive a defender. We coach the reads that decide possessions.
Position-specific work once the base holds — for guards, bigs and, on the football side, by position group.
Live play every day, against American athletes. Executing tired, under pressure, in front of people who evaluate.
The engine under the skill: measured on day one, trained daily, retested before departure.
Handled openly, not left to chance: being far from home, playing in an unfamiliar culture, and competing when it is uncomfortable.
On day one and again before departure — same protocol, same conditions, so the numbers mean something. Every result goes into the written report the family takes home.
It can give a complete performance profile, correct technique that has been wrong for years, put an athlete against a level they cannot find at home, and produce the film and the contacts a recruiting conversation needs.
It cannot build significant strength or change a body. Strength adaptation takes months, not days — and any programme that tells you otherwise is selling you something.
So we treat the camp as the diagnosis and the ignition. The development happens in the twelve weeks afterwards, at home, on the plan every athlete takes back with them. That is why no camp ends without one.
Nutrition and recovery run alongside all six: what to eat on a double-session day, how to sleep in a new time zone, and how to look after a body that is training more than it is used to.
Every camp runs inside the Zurich school holidays, so no athlete misses a day of school. Athletes train in one of two tracks by age and level; the price is the same for both. Flights, accommodation, meals, training and the full activity programme are included — no surcharges on arrival.
A first serious step into the American game. More teaching, lighter loads, closer supervision — and a week that a young athlete comes home from wanting more.
For athletes who want to know honestly where they stand against American players of their age — and want that assessment on paper and on film.
per athlete · all-inclusive from Zurich
The full camp experience in a single holiday week — ideal for a first season with us, and for the shorter sport and autumn holidays.
Request a placeper athlete · all-inclusive from Zurich
The format that actually moves the needle: a full testing cycle, two blocks of skill work, more game exposure and time to adapt to the American game.
Request a placeCHF 1,500 deposit on confirmation, balance eight weeks before departure. Instalments on request. Sibling discount of 10% on the second child. Places are limited to 24 athletes per camp week.
Aligned with the school holiday calendar of the canton of Zurich. Where a holiday runs two weeks, you can book one week or both.
Dates follow the City of Zurich school holiday calendar — Sportferien in weeks 7–8, Frühlingsferien in weeks 17–18, Sommerferien in weeks 29–33 and Herbstferien in weeks 41–42. Athletes from other cantons are welcome; tell us your holiday dates and we will find the closest fit.
We quote one number because families should be able to compare it with one number. Here is exactly what sits behind it.
Two sessions a day with a long recovery block in between — the Florida heat decides the rhythm, not the timetable. This is the structure from our 2025 camp, and it is the one we keep.
We do not sell places to everyone who applies. The assessment call exists so that nobody travels to a camp that is wrong for them.
Short form with the athlete's level, position and goals, plus a video clip if one exists.
Thirty minutes with a coach, parents included. We agree on the right camp, week and group.
Deposit of CHF 1,500 secures the spot. Balance due eight weeks before departure.
Individual training plan for the weeks at home, travel documents, packing list and a group briefing in Zurich.
A trip with HLST is a cultural experience as much as a sporting one. Athletes attend NBA and NCAA games, meet people who work in the sport every day, and see what the American game looks like from the inside.
Showcases and activities are open to boys and girls across basketball, American football and volleyball.
We are a non-profit, which means a partner's money goes into places for athletes rather than into margin. In return you are present where the attention is.
Presence on the camp kit worn every day for two weeks and in all camp content; named visibility at showcase games and NBA evenings; joint appearances with our ambassador and our NBA advisers; and access to a community of committed sporting families in Zurich and across German-speaking Switzerland.
We keep the number of partners small on purpose. Four logos on a shirt are worth more than twenty.
Agreements run for a season and are tied to a specific camp or to the year's full programme, so you know exactly which athletes and which weeks your name is attached to. We report back afterwards with the camp's content, reach and results rather than with a media-value estimate.
As a Swiss non-profit association we can issue confirmations for contributions made as donations.
Sending a child across the Atlantic is a big decision and an expensive one. These are the answers we give on the phone, written down.
The group flies together from Zurich with our Swiss coaching staff and is met in Florida by the US team. Athletes live in supervised houses — the younger group together with an accompanying parent, the U16–U18 group with the coaching staff — and every ride is made in our own bus. Before departure we set up a WhatsApp group for all parents in Zurich, and you have two named contacts throughout: the coach in Zurich and the coach in Florida.
Club-level experience and a serious attitude to training. We group athletes by age and level, so a 13-year-old in their second season and a 17-year-old chasing a scholarship both train in the right environment. The assessment call exists precisely to judge this honestly — if a camp is not right for your child yet, we will say so.
For Swiss citizens no tourist visa is needed for a camp of this length, but an ESTA travel authorisation is, plus a passport valid for at least six more months. Children travelling without their parents also need a signed parental authorisation. We send the instructions, check every document before departure and book the return flight from Zurich as a group booking — one meeting point at the airport, one flight, met on arrival.
Coaching is in English, and that is part of the value — athletes who want a US pathway need to function in it. Our Swiss staff translate whenever something matters, and school- level English is enough to take part. Most athletes are noticeably more confident by the end of the second week.
A written evaluation report covering all six development areas with the test data from arrival and departure, a highlight video cut for recruiting, the HLST kit, and an individual training plan for the months at home. Families also get a follow-up consultation on the college pathway, whether or not it turns out to be the right route.
No camp can promise that, and you should be sceptical of any programme that does. What we can do is give an honest assessment of where your child stands against American athletes of the same age, put them in front of people who place players in Division I programmes, and build the film and the relationships that a recruiting conversation needs. The rest is years of work.
Travel and accident insurance for the camp period is included. We ask for a health form with allergies, medication and emergency contacts before departure, our staff carry it throughout, and we work with a clinic near the facility. Anything beyond the insurance cover is billed to the family.
A deposit of CHF 1,500 confirms the place; the balance is due eight weeks before departure, and instalments are available on request. Cancellations more than eight weeks before departure are refunded minus the deposit; after that the flight and accommodation costs are already committed, so we recommend cancellation insurance. If we cancel a camp, you get everything back.
For the youngest group it is not just possible but planned: U12 athletes stay in a house together with an accompanying parent. For the older groups, parents do not stay in the athletes' house, but families regularly travel in the same period and we recommend accommodation nearby. You are welcome at the showcase games and at the closing session.
Training runs at a partner high school in Fort Myers — gym, weight room and courts. The group stays in two houses in Lehigh Acres, around half an hour away, and is driven to every session in our own 15-seat bus. Road trips to northern Florida and Daytona Beach include a hotel overnight where needed.
Every camp includes road trips: two days at a Division I campus in northern Florida with a guided tour, a training session and a meeting with a Heisman Trophy winner who played 11 seasons in the NBA; a day in Daytona Beach training with a state-champion high school head coach; and an NBA game night in Miami. These are part of the price, not extras.
Often yes, because most German-speaking cantons overlap in the sport and autumn holidays, and the summer window is five weeks long. Send us your canton's holiday dates with your application and we will tell you which camp block fits.
A free 30-minute assessment call with a coach — parents included — before anyone books anything.
From another canton, or none of these weeks work? Put your school holiday dates in the message field — we'll come back to you within 24 hours.
We're on the floor for every session — correcting, dosing, pushing.
High Level Sport Training is a Swiss non-profit delivering high-impact training, educational, cultural and sports-entertainment experiences for young athletes and their families. Based in Zurich, we craft programs that build skill, character and community — and leave a lasting impression.
Co-founded by practitioners across sports coaching, entertainment and law, we specialize in performance coaching, showcases and exchanges that bridge Swiss sport with U.S. high-school and collegiate pathways. Our camps and training facilities are in Fort Myers, 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.
Alongside HLST he works at International School Zurich North, which keeps him close to the age group the camps are built for. A charismatic person with a large network, Joel has spent years bringing his community together through sport — and his stated aspiration is to give back the values sport gave him.
A four-year forward from Daytona Beach, Mike Polite played Division I basketball in the ACC and was part of three NCAA Tournament teams. In his senior season of 1990–91 his team won its first tournament game in eleven years, with Polite contributing 11 points and six rebounds in a three-point win over a top-ten opponent. At 6-foot-7 he led his team with 273 rebounds that season and finished his college career with 673 rebounds and 1,070 points — one of a handful of players in his programme's history to pass both 500 rebounds and 1,000 points. He leads the coaching operation in Florida.
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.
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.
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.
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.
An American professional basketball referee who has worked in the National Basketball Association for 19+ seasons. Provides strategic guidance and expertise to HLST.
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.
Our strongest U.S. link runs through one Division I programme in northern Florida: co-founder Mike Polite, ambassador Anthony Polite and network collaborator Charlie Ward all played their college basketball there, a generation apart. That shared history opens doors on the American side of the pathway for the athletes we coach.