Over sixty elementary students participated in the Clipper youth basketball camp on March 29. The camp was held on the three school gym floors for three hours.
“It was a really great turnout,” said boys head basketball coach Mike Meyer, who oversaw the camp. “For kids that keep coming even in sixth grade, that is huge for them because any amount of time you can spend in the gym during the off season will make you that much better of a player. For the younger kids, we hope it sparks interest for them, so they want to keep playing. If we can have a good feeder program, then hopefully as they get up, Cleveland can have a more consistent record.”
New this year, kindergarteners were invited to participate, and 17 signed up.
“Obviously to add that age group makes it a little more chaotic,” said Meyer, “but it was fun. We’re not expecting kindergarten to be all-stars after this camp, but the goal is to get them to enjoy basketball.”
This year, the camp was structured differently as well with volunteers teaching specific skills at stations. Eight groups of kids cycled through the stations for the first two hours. The instructors adjusted the difficulty of the drills based on the age level.
After the stations, the attendees played three-on-three.
“For the older kids, that went well,” Meyer said. “For the younger kids, we made the best of it. They were a little chaotic still.”
Adult volunteers running the drill stations were assistant girls basketball coach Myrriah Rutz at the footwork station, assistant boys basketball coach Carter Kopet at the dribbling station, Matt Miller at the rebounding station, Scott Miller at the shooting station, assistant boys basketball coach Andy Schmidt and former MSU,M star Malik Willingham at the layup station, Scott Rutz at the passing station, assistant boys basketball coach Travis Mons at the defense station and Stephanie Seely at the game station (dribble knockout, lightning, dribble relay race).
Student athlete coaches were Emma Kortuem and Harper Rutz with kindergarteners and first graders, Bode Bartell and Tanner Simonette with kindergarteners, Taylor McCabe, Taylor Wolf and Kaitlyn Flowers with first graders, Kyle Connor and Garrett Heldberg with kindergarteners, Lacey McCabe and Ava Hahn with second graders, Kale Kelley, Jack Mons and Braeden Smith with third graders, Blake Lyons and Carson Lyons with fourth graders, and Brennan Kortuem, Alex Kortuem and Mason Kluntz with fifth and sixth graders.
Taking care of registration were Kylee Meyer, Katie Mons and Jennifer Schmidt.
“We had a good amount of volunteers here,” Meyer said. “They were super helpful. I couldn’t do it without them.”
Also at the camp, the instructors introduced the kids to the Little Clipper shooting and dribbling challenge. Kids who complete the required number of shots or dribbling time during the off season will be recognized at a basketball game next year.
Mike Meyer wrapped up the camp by encouraging the kids to continue with skill training during the off season.