“It’s amazing what kids can accomplish - in anything they do.
If they know someone believes in them -
that if they put everything they have into something -
they will achieve."
I was at Winner’s doing what I usually do when I’m at Winner’s – looking miserably lost among the thousands of samples on hangers - when all of a sudden my attention was hooked by a big tall man wearing a red shirt and a big wide smile that could have melted the heart of even your bitter next-door neighbor.
I became a woman possessed. I grabbed my camera, dashed right in front of him and stuck my face –
and camera – into his. …....
well…actually his belly button - he was so tall and I’m shrinking! …. and asked:
“What’s this about a Basketball Academy?”
Three weeks later I was climbing down 4 stories to get to the Dawson College cavernous gym
where I was sent to get answers.
The Trevor Williams Basketball Academy. A summer city camp for kids from 6-17.
The moment I saw the kids, it hit me. There was something totally different here.
The kids were all “blind.” Blind to color. Blind to gender. Blind to Olympic potential basketball players whizzing around. Blind to heavy-set children struggling to make the ball even move.
There was one thing that brought them all together: a Passion for Basketball!
And there was something else. No talking. No noise. No jostling. No shoving.
Silence.
Except for the sound of basketballs hitting the floor. And the camp hadn’t even started for the day.
There was still 15 minutes to go.
150 kids in deep concentration.
I spent two weeks hanging around the gym. Slowly the essence of The Trevor Williams Basketball Academy became clear.
Respect.
The camp was built on it.
Respect and, most important of all, “Self-Respect”
At the beginning of each of the seven camp weeks, the rules were read out.
NO….
Fighting
Swearing
Talking back to staff
Gum
Bullying
Making fun of other campers
Bouncing balls in hallway
Going in and out of office
Ethnic slurs
Stealing
Bags lying around
Any campers have a problem with staff or campers report to Trevor , Mara, or Dean right away.
The frame was set in which 7 weeks of basketball would unfold.
I was sitting beside Dean, the head of the camp. His face as still as Buddha.
He was explaining the background of the camp, when he suddenly turned his head and barked at a kid: “PUT AWAY THAT CELL PHONE”
The boy frantically looked for the opening in his pocket to shove it away.
It was obvious: Dean was a force to be reckoned with.
But how did he even see the kid behind his back in the first place???
Discipline enforces the rules. But caring and fairness have just as strong a role in to play in enforcing them.
Because underneath Dean’s mask of toughness is a person who cares deeply about each camper.
And about each coach.
I saw this in play when a kid presented himself before Dean. He laid out his complaint against his coach. “The coach kicked me off my team.” The next thing I see is the kid on the floor doing 20 push-ups
(the standard Dean punishment.)
“What gives?” I ask.
Dean looks at me with a twinkle in his eyes. “Those 20 push-ups are for his coach so he can see
that I’m taking him seriously. But this afternoon, I’m going to pay them both a visit,
the tiff between kid and coach will be settled, and the kid reinstated!”
Welcome to “Academy Psychology 101!” Very much like the Rabbi in the Shetl. You come with a problem and he settles it, taking the individual rights in consideration as well as the stability of the community in which the two ‘combatants’ have to live side by side.
But there’s another rule that Dean insists on. It’s in a quote from Michael Jordan, hung up in the halls of the Academy:
“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying”
“I’m watching all the time. Those kids know it. So do the coaches. (All 8 coaches are former campers
of the Academy and now in college).”
I tell them. “You don’t just play your heart out in the games. You got to give it your all in
‘EVERYTHING’ you do here at the camp.“
It’s the only way you can stand out at the Academy. Work at the highest level you’re capable of.
“How do you put all this on the court?” I asked. Very much intrigued.
First, “I start by creating the teams in which the kids are going to be playing.”
It is essential for Dean that the teams be equally balanced between strong and weak players. It makes kids feels safe. They know they won’t be picked on because they can’t move fast on the court or can’t score a point.
Also key here is their feeling of self-worth. From the youngest to the elite team, each kid receives the same basic training. For all ages, for both genders, for stars and slow movers.
Just think how important this makes each kid feel at the camp. Doing what the big kids are doing.
Every morning the routine is the same for all the teams in the gym.
Every day.
The first hour is made up of 6 Drills:
Strength; Dribbling; Rebounding; Passing or Pivoting; Shooting; Agility & Defense.
After the Skills are drilled, come the 12 Plays, chosen by Dean:
Team offense; Man to man defense; Full court press; Give and go’; Sideline out of bounds plays;
Baseline out of bound plays; Pick n rolls; Defend the pick n roll; Switch on defense; Defense team traps; Three passes before you score.
The afternoon the different teams play games. “Boredom” is not an issue when you have a passion
….to play basketball!”
Dean says it all!
“They know I believe that they have it in them to become good basketball players.
It’s amazing what kids can accomplish - in anything they do -
if they know someone believes in them -
that if they put everything they have into something, they will achieve.”
