Young male and female basketball players from Canora and the surrounding area, aged 14 to 17, took advantage of the opportunity to attend the NBC (Nothing Beats Commitment) Basketball Camp at Canora Composite School from July 8 to 12.
In addition to Dawson Zuravloff and Hudson Bailey of Canora, players from Norquay, Sturgis, Kamsack and Yorkton were in attendance.
Ken Keys, site director and coach, ran the camp with help from Erin Trowell, coach. Trowell said accepting the opportunity was an easy decision when she received a phone call from Keys.
“I have played a lot of basketball in the past,” said Trowell. “It’s good to give back to the game and try to build a stronger basketball community in small towns.”
Keys said the one of the main goals of the camp is to provide the players with opportunities that they may not otherwise get.
“We want to showcase these kids from smaller communities for possibly at some point being offered college or university scholarships,” he said. “These players come in here at the start of the week with limited or no fundamental basketball skills. We try to make sure that when they leave, they’ll have good, solid fundamentals to take back to their teams, coaches, schools and communities.”
Keys said, in addition to the fundamentals, daily sessions at the camp focused on offense, defence and building up strength and conditioning. He said all the players showed excellent overall progress during the week.
An all-star game is being planned for the weekend of August 3 and 4 in Canora, where the players will have the opportunity to show what they have learned.
“The game will be streamed live on the Internet,” he explained. “We will be inviting colleges and universities from across Canada and the United States to view the game and see what these players have to offer on the basketball court.”
Keys said for the coaches involved, the name of the camp also stands for “Nothing Before Christ.”
“All the coaches involved are committed Christians. In addition to the basketball instruction, we want to expose the participating young people to Christian values which can have a meaningful impact on their daily lives,” he concluded.
