Cheryl Mohr, founder of Higher Level Camps, Inc., is joined by her family including
husband, Bob, and children Wadea (age 13) and Michael (age 9) who assist her
with her business of running basketball camps and competitions, including traveling teams.
(Aileen Andrews photo)

For many young women growing up prior to the 1970s, a reality was that most high school sports were only offered to boys.  Female athletes, like Cheryl Mohr, founder of Higher Level Camps, Inc., only got the
chance to shine while playing basketball against boys in neighborhood driveways. 

That, of course, has all changed and the Higher Level Camps expand the opportunities of youngsters throughout the area.

Thanks to the 1972 passage of the Title IX Amendment, which required institutions who received federal funding to provide resources and opportunities to women in a nondiscriminatory way, schools across the
country began implementing girls sports.  Female athletes flooded to the courts, diamonds, tracks and fields, and in time, stars were made.

Cheryl took to her sport, basketball, like second nature, playing at Milwaukee Hamilton High School.  With her high school career boasting 1,021 points, 99 assists and 211 steals, Cheryl, who was part of the 1980 state tournament, was not only all-conference and all-state, but also a twotime all-American. 

She earned a full-ride scholarship to the University of Arkansas from 1980-84 where she was a four-time letter winner, second in the nation for free-throws and named all-conference. 

After playing a year professionally with the Columbus Minks, Cheryl traveled to Brazil and Africa with the Athletes In Action team and participated on Arkansas’s Silver Anniversary Team as one of 15
players chosen.

“Basketball was something she really enjoyed and she figured she could make a business of it,” said Bob Mohr, Cheryl’s husband and accountant for Higher Level Camps (HLC).  “We’ve made it into a fulltime
career now.”  At the start of the 1990s Cheryl instructed a physical education basketball course at
UW-Fond du Lac under Mary Kelly and began giving private basketball lessons at the YMCA.

“In the early to mid ‘90s, basketball just exploded and the program really took off,” said Cheryl.  In 1991 she began offering basketball skills programs through UW-Fond du Lac’s Continuing Education program and, in 1995, started HLC. 

Associated with the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), Higher Level Camps provide basketball programs to third through 12th grade boys and girls that emphasize the fundamentals of the sport. 

AAU is the largest amateur sports organization in the world, with 5,000 participants in the state of Wisconsin alone. Cheryl is the First Lieutenant Governor (previously known as vicepresident) for Wisconsin AAU and holds a position on the Board of Review and Wisconsin Board of Managers.

Cheryl’s HLC/AAU traveling teams compete in Nevada, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois and Minnesota. Based in Fond du Lac, the program offers traveling teams through AAU, Basketball Skills Class,

Tournament of Champions Program, Boys AAU National Qualifier Division I and II, HLC Ripon Shootout, Going Back to the Basic Fundamentals Camp, HLC Summer Shootout, HLC’s Skills and Drills
Basketball Program, Driveway Drill Workout Program and Thera Band Workout Program.

“These programs are not all about winning. They are here to help boys and girls have the opportunity to develop their game,” said Cheryl. “We believe in fair and equal play and starter rotation. We never put winning over the development of a player. That’s what separates us.

”Over the past ten years, HLC, which has earned respect across the country, has sent 158 players to college-level competition, as well as many into coaching positions.  Participants in the program come from over 100 miles away, some even from overseas.

“We are really trying to carve a mission here. We focus on the success of the individual because that ultimately defines the success of the team,” said Cheryl. “Our goal is to maintain quality over quantity.”

HLC itself, which is run from the Mohr’s home office, has a variety of paid positions, including coaches for both boys and girls traveling teams, trainers, practice coordinators, tournament directors and more.

“A coach has the ability to make or break a player if he or she is all about winning, and that can be a bad experience for a 12- or 13-year-old,” said Cheryl. “What I enjoy most is working with these kids, watching them excel and apply themselves as they pursue their dreams. I would not change what I do for the world.”

For more information about Cheryl’s programs, or her experience on the court and in the office, visit:
www.higherlevelcamps.com. HLC can also be reached at 929-9008.

The Action Advertiser: Sunday, October 14, 2007. This paper is delivered to 35, 000 homes in the Fond du Lac area. http://www.actiononline.net/feature.html