BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - YOUTHS from both St. Kitts and Nevis received training on the basics of playing basketball at a three-week camp held earlier this month and wrapped up on Friday (Aug. 26).
The camp was a partnership between the St. Kitts-Nevis Amateur Basketball Association (SKNABA) and the Great Adventure Enterprise Inc., out of the United States Virgin Island.
President of the non-profit organization Wayne Harvey told SKNVibes Sports that while visiting the islands, they collaborated with the SKNABA to host the camps.
During the sessions, the participants learnt the fundamentals of ball handling, dribbling, passing and shooting the basketball.
Harvey noted that the group of coaches had a productive week where they were able to drive home the “the books not only ball” philosophy to the campers who totaled more than 200.
They ranged in age from five to 17 years.
According to the Harvey, that was done to ensure that the children understood the importance of the education while playing sports.
Additionally, the students were taught that guns and violence don’t belong in sports and also that they have a negative impact on the community.
“We also taught crime prevention because without crime prevention…we cannot talk about youth development. We were here basically to put on a youth event and we are looking forward to seeing some improvements in the next couple of months after we complete this two weeks’ camp.”
While here, the long-time coach explained that they found that the level of play among juniors was at very low, and he urged the SKNABA to invest in resources to develop the sport at the grassroots level.
“The level right now is at a low, but we have seen some promising things,” Harvey added.
The training camp began on Monday, August 1, in St. Kitts and August 15, in Nevis.
