SCBookGal & Friends Chats with Shaun Brooks

 

Shaun is a fraternal twin born on July 4, making him a proud Cancer. He enjoys traveling, meeting genuine people, and investing his time and energy into meaningful connections. A proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, Shaun has no children and embraces life with an open mind and a compassionate heart.

His life has taken him across the United States and around the world. He has lived in Oahu, Hawaii, South Lake Tahoe, California, Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Palm Bay, Florida. Shaun also spent three years working as a Merchant Mariner (Ordinary Seaman) in the Deck Department, traveling to countries including Bahrain, Dubai, Singapore, and South Korea before returning home to New York City.
In 2021, Shaun experienced the heartbreaking loss of his fraternal twin brother, who passed away from sepsis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their shared birthday on July 4 has never been the same. Each year, Shaun honors his brother's memory with a heartfelt balloon release, ensuring his legacy and love are never forgotten.

Wanting to reconnect with his African roots and make a meaningful difference, Shaun initially began supporting one young basketball player with small financial contributions. That single act of kindness grew into helping five players, then ten, and eventually many more. As he worked to connect talented athletes with basketball coaches in the United States, he repeatedly encountered broken promises and disappointment. Rather than giving up, Shaun chose to create his own path.

He founded Shaun Power Players, a nonprofit initiative dedicated to helping young basketball players from underserved communities across Congo, Mali, Nigeria, Kenya, South Sudan, and Tanzania. The organization currently supports boys and young men between the ages of 10 and 20 (grades 6–12), many of whom stand between 6'5" and 7'3" and dream of using basketball to change their lives.

These athletes face daily challenges that many people never experience, including food insecurity, limited transportation to practices and games, lack of proper basketball shoes and equipment, and little to no access to medical care when they become ill or injured. Despite these hardships, they continue to pursue their dreams with determination and resilience.

As the Founder and Owner of Shaun Power Players, Shaun remains committed to one mission: to keep striving, no matter the obstacles. Royalties earned from every book sold help support the nonprofit's mission, and supporters can also choose to follow and encourage individual players whose profiles are featured on the organization's website and in Shaun's book. Shaun believes every book sold, every review written, and every act of support brings these young athletes one step closer to achieving their goals.

Check out his interview here:

Follow Author Shaun Brooks on the following platforms:

YouTube- Shaun Brooks 

Email- shaunflyguy61@gmail.com  
Website- www.shaunpowerplayer.online/
Amazon Author Page- Shaun Brooks

TikTok- Shaun

Featured Book:

Twenty true stories. One shared dream. A powerful journey from the basketball court to the world.

Life Experiences of Shaun Power Players brings together the remarkable true stories of basketball players, coaches, mentors, and survivors who refused to let hardship determine their future.

At the center of the book is Shaun Brooks—a Bronx-born mentor and nonprofit leader whose life experiences took him from New York to Hawaii, across the oceans, and eventually into the lives of young athletes throughout Africa. After witnessing extreme poverty and limited opportunities, Shaun dedicated himself to advocating for players and coaches in South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Inside these pages, readers will meet young people who have survived war, displacement, hunger, family loss, refugee camps, and dangerous journeys across borders. Some trained without proper shoes or equipment. Others worked exhausting jobs to continue their education, crossed deserts in search of safety, or built basketball academies in communities with few resources.

Yet these are not simply stories of suffering.

They are stories of faith, courage, discipline, sacrifice, education, mentorship, and the relentless pursuit of a dream. Through basketball, these individuals found community, purpose, and the strength to keep moving forward when nearly everything around them told them to stop.

This book is not merely a charity appeal or an examination of refugee conditions. It is an honest testimony to the strength of the human spirit—and a call for coaches, scouts, sponsors, organizations, and compassionate readers to recognize the extraordinary potential that can exist behind difficult circumstances.

A moving and unforgettable collection for readers interested in inspirational true stories, basketball, African experiences, refugee journeys, humanitarian advocacy, faith, resilience, and youth empowerment.