Ambition basketball moves into historic Evansville Downtown YMCA gym
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Before Mitch Lewis stepped inside the old Downtown YMCA, the only sign of life from the 93-year-old building was the faintly-lit logo above its entrance doors. Still, Lewis believed the vacant building had more to offer the local community.
Earlier this month, Lewis, Ambition Basketball's president and head instructor, reached an agreement with the Downtown YMCA to allow his organization to occupy the center's historic gym.
Since Ambition's start in 2015, the organization has provided year-round private and group training and athletic camps as well as maintaining several successful Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball teams.
Under Lewis' direction, Ambition will conduct practices, training sessions and games at the facility for athletes as part of the program. He believes with the new space, the program will open up further to the community and breathe new life into the former center.
For many Evansville residents, the old Downtown YMCA is a symbol of the city's past and a benchmark for its ever-expanding future.
The former community center sits directly across from the new Ascension St. Vincent YMCA, which officially opened in September 2019. Next to the $18.1 million facility, the distressed exterior of "the old Y" appears worn compared to the area's recent modernization.
But even before the gym's recent vacancy, Lewis always envisioned Ambition's placement in the historic facility.
"That place was on my mind because of the history," Lewis said of the old YMCA facility. "I grew up playing there; so I always thought that it would be great (if we took over the space.) Everybody thought it was a chance, and it kind of ended up falling into our laps where that place wasn't being used."
How it came together
The agreement between Ambition and the YMCA all started over lunch between Lewis' wife, Erin Lewis, and Southwest Indiana Chamber CEO Tara Barney. The two talked about the benefits of maintaining the old YMCA building and allowing Ambition to take over the facility's gym.
With more than 2,000 children in afterschool programs at the YMCA, Erin felt Ambition could provide opportunities for the youth to participate in Lewis' organization and other programs potentially located in the center.
"Community-wise, there are so many kids where travel ball isn't accessible to them for cost reasons or they can't get a ride to a training facility," Erin Lewis said. "Having Mitch do what he does downtown, no one gets turned away with that kind of space. ... It's just about taking this local business and using it through civil leadership."
After Barney and Erin's conversation, Barney contacted Johnathan Pope, president and CEO of the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana, who reached out to Lewis about Ambition renting out the gym. Just three days later, the deal was made.
"We felt like the facilities were available, and if it could be used for some community benefit, that we would welcome that opportunity," Pope said. "We also felt it fit within our mission.
"It's youth-related. It's basketball, and it's wholesome recreation with the kids, something to keep them active and safe," he added.
'It was just a perfect fit'
Lewis believes the two organizations share a passion to build positive character and attitude among local youth.
"It was just a perfect fit," he said. "We had this abandoned building, and I needed some space. Our values just lined up. So I think that's why it (came together) so fast."
Previously at Trinity United Methodist Church, Lewis said there was also a dire need for more space. The program, which began with 40 athletes in its first year, has expanded to nearly 210 participants.
The facility he is now using is an old, bowl-shaped gym, built in 1927 with a seating capacity of 6,800 that includes two courts and six baskets. Lewis said while the former YMCA building will be used for daily practices and games, Trinity United will still be used to run community-based programs.
A life-long dream
The new location makes even more sense for Lewis, who began his athletic aspirations playing between the gym's baselines roughly two decades ago. After Ambition's first official practice in the facility Monday, Lewis said he instantly felt feelings of nostalgia.
"It brought back a lot of emotions for me because growing up here and playing there a lot, and the historic nature of that gym, it's like all those memories just start flashing back in your head. And to be able to share that with my daughter and my wife was just awesome."
Born and raised in the area, Lewis grew up a die-hard fan of basketball and was relatively accomplished in his own right. At Castle High School, he was an all-state caliber player and eventually went on to play at the collegiate level at the University of South Carolina Aiken.
He never wanted to do anything but play basketball, Lewis said. After studying business administration at USC Aiken, Lewis moved to San Antonio, Texas, and began running a basketball program called the Next Level Raiders for nine years.
When he and his wife decided to move back to Evansville, Lewis decided to start Ambition in 2015. On the drive from Texas to their new home in the Tri-State, the couple sketched out the design for their new logo.
Since then, Ambition has become one of the leading basketball programs in Evansville, with a total of nearly 20 teams. Four of those teams were recently invited to the Under Armour Circuit this summer.
Coaching career in jeopardy
Though Lewis has spearheaded much of the program's success, there have also been moments of hardship. Just eight weeks after his daughter was born, Lewis was restricted from being able to walk and train his players after tearing his Achilles, and in 2016 he lost his voice.
After being sent to the renowned Vanderbilt Voice Center by a local physician, Lewis was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition called Abductor Spasmodic Dysphonia. The condition causes spasms that open up his vocal folds, making his voice sound weak or breathy.
The only treatment for Lewis' condition is getting Botox shots directly in his neck. He's had mixed success with the treatment, so Lewis has learned how to coach without a voice when needed.
Despite his limitations, his vision for Evansville's placement as a prominent basketball city in the Tri-State remains strong.
Vision for the future of Evansville basketball
Lewis said he intends on establishing basketball leagues and tournaments that will draw in neighboring AAU teams from places as far as Louisville. In turn, he expects this will bring added exposure to Evansville and the city's downtown area through partnerships with local hotels and restaurants providing meals and accommodations for traveling teams, he said.
Lewis believes the program's new home will also encourage more Ambition families to sign up for YMCA memberships and potentially spark more programs in the older facility.
Ambition's agreement to rent the facility's basketball gym is just one use for the historic YMCA property.
Pope has said a developer still plans to construct affordable housing units in the Shopbell portion of the old YMCA, which dates to 1913. Financing for that project has not closed.
Pope expects an official sale of the Shopbell area to be done sometime next month, with the other two portions of the center still being owned by the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana.