Hus, one of my good friends and plyometric training partner belongs to a community group from his mosque. A few weeks ago he called me and asked if I would be interested in coaching and running a charity basketball camp. I abruptly said No! I really don’t like coaching as in the past I have volunteered my time and I have been messed around. I have had so many people come to training sessions late and in a lot of the cases not at all. I think it’s because I offered my services for free. When something is free I guess it doesn’t get valued that much. I really want to help people but the past experiences have made me dislike coaching.
After a lengthy conversation with Hus he finally convinced me to get on board. Over the course of a week we then proceeded to plan the charity basketball camp. Then I heard the original estimate of people participating. 65 kids? Between that ages of 6 to 12? What have I got myself into? I instantly regretted my decision. I have worked basketball camps in the past and I know that this age group is so hard to control. They are all over the place! Regardless, I had given Hus my word and worked to source all the equipment.
We started by finding out the exact number of participants attending the basketball camp. From there we sent the community leaders a list of equipment and requirements of the venue.
Our list:
- Two full courts indoor
- Backboards and rings are to be adjustable to 8 foot to ensure all the kids can make the distance. 10 foot hoop is too high.
- Minimum of 15 basketballs – the community leaders were looking to rent these but I suggested they purchase rubber balls.
- Agility cones for drills
Initially the community group were going to hire all the equipment which was going to cost quite a bit and not to mention that the equipment that was getting hired was old. Initially the community group was going to pay me for my time. I refused to accept any payment as my reward would be having the kids learn a thing or two about basketball and have a great time. Some people find it hard to believe but I do get a lot of joy teaching basketball to willing subjects.
As I refused payment Hus was very vocal to the community leaders about purchasing the equipment. I have to commend Hus for taking ownership by being the middle man or project manager as we like to call it in the IT industry.
Date was set, venue was booked and equipment all taken care of. It was time to put the community leaders at ease and have a meet and greet. Meeting with the events leader we discussed what my plan was for the charity basketball camp and how the day will be broken down. From the meeting we planned to split the group of 60+ participants into two groups. The groups were broken into age; the young ones will be the first group starting at 09:30am and finishing at 11:30am. The second group were aged 9-13 were last with a tip off at 12:00pm concluding 1:30pm.
Saturday morning and I sleep in an hour knowing that I will be sapped of energy coaching little kids. I’ve done this a few times before when I was in my twenties and I was drained at the end of the day. Now that I am approaching forty I know I have to clear out my weekend for recovery.
With all the caps that I have run before I always get there at least 45 minutes before tip-off. True to my form I got there at 9:15am to check the venue and set up. When I get to the stadium I was very surprised at how good the courts were at Sportslink Vermont. Initially I had no idea that basketballs were purchased by the community group. I was informed the night before in the meet and greet that we will be hiring the balls from the stadium. So when I got to the stadium in the morning my first request was to get the balls. I asked for a minimum of 12 balls; I get two full size balls and three size 6 balls. Oh, darn! There’s goes all my plans I thought to myself. How can I run a camp with 5 balls? Three of which are under size! So I decided to frantically message Hus about the situation. Luckily Hus was just walking in. As usual Hus was calm and comforted me by saying everything was ok. I gave him a blank look!
Instead of worrying I decided to get some shots up. After all I had two full size basketballs and no equipment to set up. After getting some shots up and breaking a sweat (along with laughing at Hus shoot) we saw some of the organisers walk in at a shade after 10am. They were carrying two full bags of brand new balls and two separate sets of cones. I ran over and took the equipment just as I saw the kids walk in. Frantically I set the codes and balks up for the drills. Thank god Hus and the volunteers were there to keep the kids at bay while I did the set up.
I began the session with the younger kids with a brief introduction. I hit the key teaching principles of the camp mentioning that this was not only about basketball but about team work and working together; much like being a part of a community. Thought this would keep the organisers happy.
We then began the basketball camp with passing drills which for kids is important. They need to learn the principles of the pass as not only there a technique but also it gets a kids using another team mate. Just to get the kids used to understanding basketball is a team sport.
After a couple of minutes of passing drills some of the boys started to get bored and a little difficult. Had to speak to a group of the sternly and it was good to see a caretaker also step in and lay down the law. The girls were fantastic! They took on instructions and were so easy to deal with.
After the passing drills I moved the kids on to dribbling drills after taking them through the basics of dribbling. Staying low, dribbling with the fingers and keeping the ball below the knee making it harder to steal. This particular drill they seem to enjoy more than the passing. I saw the younger boys throwing in some cross overs whilst running the drill. Impressing considering their age.
The next drill I ran was a shooting drill; I went through the theory of BEEF. What’s BEEF? Well it’s not the meat you eat I am talking about. But BEEF in basketball terms is Balance Eyes Elbows Follow-through. Using two baskets I got the kids to start with a simple layup drill and switched them over to short range jump shots. Even with the basket at 8 foot the little kids struggled to make the distance. So I decided to lift the little kids close to the hoop.
After a short time shooting I quickly rushed the kids into teams to play a game. I had no idea how fast the time went and I really want to give an opportunity to run around and put all their skills together. The kids were full of energy and it was hard to keep up with them. They all ran after the ball got involved as a team.
The hour was up and it was time to take the little kids outside and give them something to eat. I broke the kids up with a series of high fives and I was lucky enough to get a hug! Oh how these kids can melt your heart.
Watching the kids get fed and taking time to from yelling I decided to run inside and get ready for the next group. Yet again I was in the middle of set up when the next group came in the only difference was when they came in they moved all the cones I set up and took all the basketballs and started shooting. I thought the younglings were hard to deal with but the older group seemed to be wilder.
I stuck to the same format as I did with the younger group. I ran passing drills, dribbling and then shooting. The drills were tweaked to be a little more advanced. The older kids had a lot more attitude and it was great to joke around and have a bit of banter.
Again time just flew past and I noticed on the scoreboard that we only had 10 minutes left. I quickly wound up the drills and again ran games on two separate baskets. The kids were like the first group; full of energy. The kids were a magnet to the ball but there was one girl that felt left out as she wasn’t getting the ball. I decided to jump in and join the kids. When I got the ball I singled out the girl that felt left out and passed her the ball. Funny thing is that she was in a team full of girls. It wasn’t if she was in a team full of boys that were isolating her.
The final buzzer went and it was the end of the camp. The kids really took to the game and I was really happy how the camp went. I was very grateful for Hus been there to help out with the drills and getting involved with the kids.
What a great day and I look forward to my next charity basketball camp!
If you would like to get involved or participate in the next charity basketball event, please use the comments section below or the Ask A Question form. All forms of help are welcome.
