THE Maloney Gardens Community once again played host to the 'Stories of Success' basketball academy summer camp, which ran from the July 11 – August 29, at the Maloney Indoor Sports Arena.
Led by former national player and SOS Basketball Academy Head Coach Kern George, the 2016 'Ball All Summer' basketball camp maintained its focus on enhancing participants' knowledge and athletic ability in the sport of basketball, encouraging the pursuit of educational achievement and advocating socially responsible behaviour.
The success of the camp was once again made possible through the support of a cast of dedicated personnel. SOS assistant coach Kenyatta Alfred was a mainstay throughout the camp, and was ably assisted by Stefan Dillon (Head Coach of the University of Trinidad and Tobago) and Ian “Poison” Gomes (Brian Chase Basketball Academy coach).
Avionne Maule (Defence Force) lent her expertise in physiotherapy, while Renaldo Alexander and Saleem Henry of GT Fitness challenged the campers with a series of strength and conditioning exercise routines over the course of the two months.
Kenrick Julien and Patrick Scipio (recently recruited to the Wiley College, Texas Basketball Programme), as well as ex-NBA player Terry DeHere, mentored the group, offering insight to their experiences and words of encouragement to keep pushing to be better on and off the court.
Over 50 participants from Trinidad, Tobago and the United States took part in what was the fourth edition of the camp, which in the past has produced several national basketballers at various levels.
Academy members Nickolai Mills, Kalique Robertson-Forrester, Jedidiah Celestine and Jamal Prince journeyed to Georgetown, Guyana as part of the Trinidad and Tobago Boys' Under 16 Basketball Team that took part in the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) U16 Championship in July.
At the under-15 level, Jadon Daniel and Jaheim Evelyn joined Mills, Prince and Robertson-Forrester on the T&T roster in Patillas, Puerto Rico for the CentroBasket U-15 Championships in late August. And in Jamaica, Charles Williams, Clint Graham and Mohammed Elias all featured for Team T&T on their way to bagging gold at the Caribbean Hoopfest Under 19 Tournament in Montego Bay, also in August.
With the conclusion of the “Ball All Summer” Camp, training now returns to its regular weekend schedule (Saturdays 9am – 1pm, Sundays 5pm – 7pm), with attention now switching to preparation for the NBFTT National Boys & Girls U-17 3x3 Championships, as well as the Digicel NBA Jumpstart Clinics.
Further info can be obtained from Chevon Le Gendre (Operations Manager – SOS Basketball Academy) via phone: 468-5462, or email: chevon_legendre_03@hotmail.com.