Bounce Out the Stigma Project
West Brook School, P.O. Box 616, Allendale, NJ 07401
About
The Bounce Out the Stigma Project centers on basketball and motor skill development exercises for kids and young adults with special needs who have been labeled. The program offers basketball summer camps, school year camps and clinics, clinics for special needs kids, school assembly programs, speaking engagements, and basketball FUN’d Raisers.
The Bounce Out the Stigma Project was founded in 2005 by “Mighty” Mike Simmel, based on his personal experience of being asked to leave a basketball camp after having a seizure. The program uses basketball and unique motor skill development exercises to instill self-confidence, provide peer support, and create a sense of achievement, with a primary goal of empowerment expressed in the phrase, “Limits Will NOT Define You, Your WILL Defines Your Limits.” Its mission states that it seeks to empower kids and young adults with special needs who are victims of “labels,” and it teaches kids and parents to believe “YES I CAN.” The Bounce Out the Stigma Program partners yearly with the 76ers for a Bounce Out the Stigma Clinic.
The founder, “Mighty” Mike Simmel, has received multiple recognitions, including the Prestigious TOYA Award for one of the Ten Outstanding Young Americans Making a Difference, the title of Kentucky Colonel bestowed by the Governor of Kentucky, the Prestigious Sweet Water Clifton Award by the NY Knicks, and honors from the NBA Philadelphia 76ers for his work with the team and community. Additional awards include the 2024 Jr. NY Knicks Coach of the Year, the 2019 Jr. NBA Program of the Year, and the NBA Philadelphia 76ers Game Changer Award. The program is considered by many “The Best Challenged Youth Basketball Program in the Country.”
Parent and participant feedback includes statements that Bounce Out the Stigma camps are “utterly life-changing” and that the camps provide “a true basketball outlet for this kids and young adults.” One testimonial notes that the kids “love basketball in their own way” and that staff “teach them and have fun with it,” and another describes watching kids come out and hug the founder as “amazing” and calls the camps “a truly inspirational way” to return each year.
Last updated July 5, 2026.
The Bounce Out the Stigma Project was founded in 2005 by “Mighty” Mike Simmel, based on his personal experience of being asked to leave a basketball camp after having a seizure. The program uses basketball and unique motor skill development exercises to instill self-confidence, provide peer support, and create a sense of achievement, with a primary goal of empowerment expressed in the phrase, “Limits Will NOT Define You, Your WILL Defines Your Limits.” Its mission states that it seeks to empower kids and young adults with special needs who are victims of “labels,” and it teaches kids and parents to believe “YES I CAN.” The Bounce Out the Stigma Program partners yearly with the 76ers for a Bounce Out the Stigma Clinic.
The founder, “Mighty” Mike Simmel, has received multiple recognitions, including the Prestigious TOYA Award for one of the Ten Outstanding Young Americans Making a Difference, the title of Kentucky Colonel bestowed by the Governor of Kentucky, the Prestigious Sweet Water Clifton Award by the NY Knicks, and honors from the NBA Philadelphia 76ers for his work with the team and community. Additional awards include the 2024 Jr. NY Knicks Coach of the Year, the 2019 Jr. NBA Program of the Year, and the NBA Philadelphia 76ers Game Changer Award. The program is considered by many “The Best Challenged Youth Basketball Program in the Country.”
Parent and participant feedback includes statements that Bounce Out the Stigma camps are “utterly life-changing” and that the camps provide “a true basketball outlet for this kids and young adults.” One testimonial notes that the kids “love basketball in their own way” and that staff “teach them and have fun with it,” and another describes watching kids come out and hug the founder as “amazing” and calls the camps “a truly inspirational way” to return each year.
Last updated July 5, 2026.
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