Aram Spendjian

My name is Aram Spendjian and I sit as the Director of Public Relations and Social Media for Hoops4Hayastan. Both Matt Madoian and Garen Spendjian founded the organization after they noticed a lack of resources for basketball attire, courts and structure within Armenia. From there, we started to work as a team to help bring dreams to reality for the youth of our country!

Growing up, my brother Garen and I were both very involved in the Armenian community. We attended Holy Martyrs Armenian Day School in Bayside, Queens, where we met some of our closest friends that we have today. Following our attendance with Holy Martyrs, we joined our ACSA Basketball league, where we competed with other Armenian Churches throughout the NY and NJ area. From there we attended AGBU’s Camp Nubar in Andes, New York as well as numerous other organizations such as ACYOA and Homenetmen. Our love for the Armenian community grew, as we got more involved with dance, culture and sports.

As Garen’s passion for basketball grew, as did mine. My family and I would push him to be the best basketball player that he can be and he truly proved to us that he was capable of taking his skills to the next level. He was an All-County Athlete for basketball during his High School career and then moved on to play College basketball for SUNY Cortland in Upstate New York. After graduating, Garen played professionally in Cairo, Egypt, and from there he was sought out after to play for and represent our beautiful country of Armenia.

Throughout the years, the love for basketball within my family has grown tremendously. When Garen came to us to suggest the Hoops4Hayastan dream, it was the obvious choice. Giving the youth of Armenia the proper tools they need to succeed in life. There is no better way to push that dream than by doing something you love.