Building a firm foundation-Basketball camp seeks to teach young players good habits
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That’s why his annual summer basketball camp, which ended Wednesday, was geared toward elementary school students.
‘Kids this age just soak it up,’ said Smith near the end of camp. ‘It’s hard to break 10 years of bad habits if they learn the wrong way and keep doing it that way until they get to high school. We’d rather get them doing it right from the start and these kids have looked good. I’ve seen a lot of them improve in the three days they’ve been here.’
The numbers were down slightly from last year with about 60 students participating instead of 80. Despite lower numbers, Smith opted to look on the bright side.
‘It gives them a chance to get more individual attention and more repetition,’ he said.
Five basic skills were emphasized at different stations ‘ shooting, passing, ballhandling, defense and rebounding, and one-on-one offense. Smith was helped by members of the high school basketball team who volunteered their time to work with the kids.
The summer camp is an extension of the weekly camps Smith holds every Saturday morning during basketball season. Last year, the sessions were open to 5- to 7-year-olds, and Smith hopes to broaden the age groups even more this year, possibly going up to age 10.
‘I want to get them started in basketball at an early age,’ said Smith. ‘The Jaycee basketball league kind of lags behind because it doesn’t get started until they’re 8 years old. By that time, they’ve already had a chance to play baseball, football and soccer and take an interest in those sports. We want them to get an interest in basketball.’