Dave Love

Director of "The Love of the Game" Shooting Clinics.

University of Calgary Dino's Shooting Coach.

The Love of the Game is a unique program offering shooting-specific basketball instruction. Founded in 2001 by Dave Love, the concept originated as an effort to provide high quality coaching to young basketball players aspiring to improve their shooting ability. Since that time, The Love of the Game has evolved into a highly respected basketball program and popular place for players to hone their skills.

The Love of the Game offers various programs for players of all ages and skill levels. We offer clinics, programs and summer camps for youth, and continue to attract top college and university players interested in personal shooting tutelage.  In the summer of 2005, Dave was hired as Shooting Coach to both the University of Calgary Dino's Men's and Women's teams, working closely with the coaching staffs to improve the shooting of players on those teams.

With a proven track record of success, The Love of the Game is quickly becoming the choice for shooting instruction and coaching to over 30 college and university players across Alberta.

The roots of The Love of the Game date back to 1990. As a high-school basketball player at Lord Beaverbrook High School in Calgary, Dave Love became involved with the Calgary 88's, a professional basketball team in the WBL. At this time, Love met world-class shooter Chip Engelland, a former Duke University captain and 9-year professional basketball player. Love and Engelland developed a unique friendship, and over three seasons Dave spent countless hours in the gym with Chip learning his theories on shooting a basketball. Love went on to serve as an assistant coach at Engelland's elite basketball camps in Calgary and Chicago for 3 years, and this experience would serve as the foundation for The Love of the Game. When Engelland retired from his playing career, he became the personal shooting coach to NBA players Steve Kerr, Grant Hill and Shane Battier, shooting coach to the Denver Nuggets, and most recently Tony Parker and the World Champion San Antonio Spurs of the NBA. Love and Engelland have remained in close contact with Engelland acting as a Chief Advisor. The Love of the Game began based on the teachings of Chip Engelland, and his NBA experiences continue to serve as a guide for our programs.

In 2007 Dave Love was hired as a Shooting Consultant to the two time ACAC Champion Mount Royal College Cougars, and also attended the selections for Basketball Canada's National, Development and Junior teams.  Coach Love has also been hired by several communities within youth basketball to offer private clinics to their teams.

The Love of the Game emphasizes simplicity. Our methodology educates players how each part of the body affects the shooting process, and attempts to instill a simple shooting technique that can be easily repeated. Shooting a basketball is fundamentally about muscle memory, and therefore our teachings are focused on retraining the muscles and building good shooting habits.

To register for a The Love of the Game clinic or program, please visit the "Events" page.