Camps- Making Them Fun, Getting Kids Excited

I had an opportunity to go watch Streaks Girls Basketball Camp one afternoon this week. The girls who will be in 2nd thru 6th grade next year were being given instructions on how to do a variety of basketball skills, and drills to practice those skills. They were doing contests at different baskets. And they excitedly filled out entries to be a ball girls at a Streaks game next winter- the plan to draw out one winner. 

The HS players were engaged in their work with the young players. The HS players gave players tips and lots of high fives. They were tremendous role models for the young players. 

I was only there one afternoon, but you know what quickly stood out? The gym was full of smiles!! 

As I watched, I was reminded of a couple things…

1- A parent who came each day and wanted to “coach” their daughter each day. They yelled instructions from a chair at the side. Days the parents was there, the daughter didn’t seem to smile much.

2- A parent who stopped me after a camp session to tell me that they thought I was having the girls do too many “silly contests” and would be better served if I would work with the girls putting in a motion offense for them to use in their camp games. Keep in mind the parent’s daughter was in third grade. 

3- in the last couple weeks, I saw a post on Facebook of a travel tourney. In the post, the post was announcing that their daughter’s team was going to be playing in the travel tourney championship. What caught my eye was that the girl was playing on a 9U team. That means these girls were probably going into 2nd or 3rd grade. I am not making that up. In what world is having 2nd/3rd graders spending a weekend playing in a competitive tourney age appropriate? 

Years ago Harley Knosher ran the Knox-Milwaukee Bucks Camp. Each day the campers got a short lecture/demonstation on a skill or attitude. The speaker that every young camper wanted to listen to was Dan Sullivan, who was boys bb coach at Brimfield and later at Princeville. He had the kids on the edge of their seats, laughing, and yelling. He would several times in his talks say,”Who put the fun in fundamentals?” The players would scream,”Coach Sullivan.” No matter what skill he talked about, his message was that basketball should be fun! I can only imagine what he would say to the parents I mentioned earlier. 

Coach Demott is to be complimented for organizing a camp that promoted an enthusiasm for basketball specifically and sports in general. I predict in a world where fewer and fewer girls are going out for basketball in the U.S., next year there will be even more girls at Streaks Camp than there were this year. 

And to the Streaks Varsity players- a job well done!! Because of you- there are a lot of young girls who are excited about basketball!!