About Capital Courts in Ottawa

Capital Courts Training Center began as an idea of bringing together two passions of founder Merrick Palmer, a former professional basketball player out of Toronto, Canada. After a stellar university career at St. Francis Xavier University where he was a 2-time AUS all-star and won a national championship, Merrick took his talents to Durban, South Africa where he lead his team to its first Premier Basketball League title in 1997. He was named finals MVP, league all-star and was second in the league in scoring at 30.1 behind  former NBA star Lewis Lloyd of the Huston Rockets.

While in South Africa, Merrick immersed himself in the African culture and made basketball the tool to learn about its people and their struggles. Against the wishes of team officials, Merrick ventured into the infamous townships to run basketball clinics and share his experiences with the youth and community elders. It was during these 1996 clinics that he realized that he had an ability to connect with kids above and beyond the scope of basketball. Changed by the experience, Merrick came back to Canada determined to continue to help anyone within earshot realize their personal dreams.

Merrick has been the Technical Director for the Gloucester-Cumberland Basketball Association in Ottawa since 2007 and shortly after began running a spring basketball school, summer camps and occasional personal training sessions. The rapid growth of Merrick Palmer Basketball has made it very difficult to accommodate the close to 200 kids a year that pass through the various programs. The idea to have a private year-round facility to give kids the best possible start in basketball became a necessity not just a dream.

Capital Courts Training Center has moved from a dream to a reality that is now poised to change the direction of how basketball is taught in this country. Simultaneously, Capital Courts is committed to help hundreds of special needs individuals move away from sedentary lifestyles that many tend to lead with programs not offered anywhere in Ottawa.