Camp 2000 (by Patrick Suessmuth)

This year's Erin Hoops Slam Dunk Basketball Camp is now history.  I have a lot to tell you about it, so here goes.

The Camp was a success from everything my biased body has been able to collect.

The kids had fun and learned a lot of basketball. The best proof of this statement is one I overheard on Wed. evening. Two parents talking together on the sideline, watching their kids concurred with, "My son/daughter is out there doing things in basketball I never saw them do before."   Feedback, unsolicited, like that when the Camp was only half done spells success.  It is what Erin Hoops is all about.

More feedback. Friday parents send butter tarts and candies and chocolate bars to the coaches.  Unsolicited praise of what my ten volunteer coaches and four local guest coaches have done.

On top of this I've heard nary a negative comment but this silence is dramatically set off by the number of parents who spoke to us coaches in praise of Erin Hoops Slam Dunk Camp. P.S. Keep this up folks and we in Hoops will start to think our Camp is the best basketball camp there is. I'm already starting to get that feeling. 

Some Camp Bits And Pieces

Bit One

On Wednesday Aug. 16th the Raptors invaded Erin.  In the afternoon the Raptor Jam Van came to Erin Hoops Slam Dunk Basketball Camp.  Dribbling games and NBA 2ball were played. Kids watched and every kid had a turn at both games.  Wed. afternoon was almost over when the Jam Van gave each kid their second T-shirt of the camp, a participation certificate and a number of sticker tattoos each...but this wasn't the end of the Raptor invasion.  

Bit Two

That night as part of Erin's Millenium Week Celebrations opening Centre 2000, nine Raptor Ambassadors and a coach played local players in Erin Hoops initiation of Centre 2000's new gym floor.  Two games were played simultaneously and over 100 local basketballers got a taste of the future in our new gym. Fun was had by all. 

Bit Three

Even Carolyn White had fun.  She is the only person still living in Erin of the original founding "fathers" of Hoops.  Carolyn, a non basketballer, brought a basketball signed by the original Hoops players and used it to shoot and make Hoops first special public basket.  Carolyn was awesome.  She walked over to the basket, looked at the backboard, shot and made her first basket. Everyone cheered.  For those of us connected to Hoops it was a special moment. 

Bit Four

Now back to the Camp and the big Bang story.

25 campers and 5 coaches are outside practicing passing in the sun.  

A construction truck backs beeping into our practice area. 

We all stand clear.  

A ball escapes.  It rolls in slow motion under the truck.  

No one moves.

BANG - the truck's duel rear wheels squash the ball.

The truck driver's shaken.  First he thought he'd had a blow-out.  Then he thought he'd got a camper.  His heart rate raced.  Everyone was congratulated on their safety consciousness, as no one moved to save the ball.  The driver went off happy.  He took the flattened ball with him and is surely telling a tall-tall tale of what happened. 

Bit Five

Another camp story I like to tell is about this year's experience teaching the campers defensive skills.  In past years the teaching of defense followed a conventional approach and little changed in the Camp Games.  This year Ten Principles of Defense were taught.  The effect was dramatic, suddenly no one was scoring any more.  Games ground on forever.  Previous to learning defense the games were quickly over.  With new defensive principles ringing in their heads the campers' defensive skills suddenly overwhelmed their offensive skills.  No baskets were being scored.  Kids were asking when the game would have subs as the natural offensive flow of previous games had determined when subs would occur.  Now with no offense, no subbing was occurring.  The camp changed.  Subs now had to be made on a timed basis so everyone got to play again.

These taught defensive principles also had the effect of causing kids to be psyched out of their playing skills.  The defenders became so tenacious that they caused players to be more concerned with what their check was doing than trying to play the game as they had done so well previously.  Campers' upset with their checks were everywhere which was exactly what should have happened if the defensive principles were properly applied.  Everyone, players and coaches learned a lot from this experience.

This camp suffered some adverse moments. Parents and my volunteer coaches all stepped up and saved the day.  One adverse moment in the Camp was so upsetting, three of us coaches were in tears we were so upset.  We rallied.  We became more of a TEAM.  We talked and shared ideas on how to turn adversity to our advantage.  In places we shone.  In places we failed.  In the end the camp went on making the best of bad situations.

It is hard to say the number of places the volunteer coaches came up to me and quietly said, "Let's do this now.", something I'd no way of ever thinking of under the pressures I found myself leading this camp through.  The coaches are all either entering grade 9,10, or 11.  Two are going into grade 12 and have helped over the last three years of this Camp.  These unpaid, totally dedicated, incredibly helpful teenagers that I am so proud of are in alphabetical order Amanda Beadle, Kelly Boone, Kelly Fricker, Diana Humberstone, Holly Kortleve, Rachelle and Rebekah Krusselbrink, Jennifer MacDonald, Catherine Stokes and Mark Wheeldon.  Many of these beautiful people have already indicated they want to help again next year, plus six other campers have indicated they want to coach next year too.  Who says teens are bad.  I can find no evidence in our basketball community to support this.  Kids want to help.

A special thanks to Mike and Jeannette Wozniak is due. They appeared out of no where to visit and watch our Camp just as an hour long power failure disrupted our Camp sending us outside into ad lib activities.  They came to our aid doing a major ball handling activity for candy prizes for the best player/camper in each pair.  Mike grinned mightily as I grimaced, playing Scrooge giving out the Camp's candy rewards.  P .S. The Camp was open at all times for parents and community to come and watch.  This is also true of any Erin Hoops activity.

Three local merchants also helped make Hoops Slam Dunk Camp a success.  Dial-A-Show provided eight free video rental certificates - Steen's Dairy came through with a pile of gift certificates for 250 ml. containers of their famous chocolate milk, and again for the third year running we had smiling waitresses, great food, super service, in a semi-formal end of Camp dinner at David's Restaurant.

There's a story from David's Restaurant that needs telling.  Just before desert I passed out Erin Hoops Volunteer Work Certificates to each coach, some of whom will be able to use it to easily cover the Province's new requirement of 40 hours volunteer help by all kids graduating High School starting in 2003. I said words of thanks and deep praise of their maturity and spectacular help as I gave them out.

People at the next table came over.  None of us knew them. They added that it was really great to see young people being recognized for their achievement in the way that Hoops was doing it.

This was a good Camp, well done in trying circumstances.  Could the Camp be better?  Yes.  I think last year's Camp was slightly better, and all things being equal I have ideas to make a good Hoops Camp even better.  Look out Erin Basketball, you're on the road to super excellence.

This camp was the biggest Hoops Camp ever.  In past years Erin Hoops has struggled to have the 50 campers it wanted.  This year we had 57 and turned away 8 others.  Our success is spreading.

In closing, a gentle thanks to the multitude of people who care, who helped make this camp a success.  Believe me, volunteerism is alive and very healthy in Erin Basketball.

Reprinted from The Advocate, Aug. 23 & 30, 2000, Vol. 122, No. 35 & 34, pages 10 & 12 respectively.