The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

COACH Sam Nichols and his coaching staff are back in town for their 16th annual Basketball Smiles basketball camp.

The free camp, designed in two parts for girls from 9am to noon and boys 1-4 pm, got started on Monday and ends today at the CI Gibson Gymnasium. On Thursday, Nichols and his staff will host a special session at the HO Nash Junior High School before wrapping up their visit with a session conducted in Gambier.

With the camp now in full swing, the retired Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, said he was delighted to be able to continue to impact their Life Skills Progamme of Basketball Smiles to the Bahamian youngsters.

“We’re really pleased. We had almost one hundred girls and close to 200 boys out for the first day, so we are very pleased because we worked very hard to bring the camp here, but if we don’t have the attendance it doesn’t make any sense,” said Nichols at the camp yesterday.

“Pattie (Johnson) and the other coaches and the media have done a great job in getting the word out to the kids to come out, so the attendance has been good and they have been receptive to the instructions that they have gotten from the coaches, so that makes it worthwhile when the coaches come out.”

During each daily session, the campers go through drills from one station to the next in shooting, dribbling, defence and offence with the various coaches before they end up displaying their skills in pick up games.

Nichols was joined by a cadre of 12 coaches, who all took their vacation to come to the Bahamas to impact their knowledge.

“We try to plan a vision for citizenship, academic excellence and making good choices in being future leaders in the Bahamas,” said Nichols of the vision behind the camp. “We want them to know that they are the future for the Bahamas and we want them to be able to make good choices in helping to change their country one vision at a time.”

For the second consecutive year, Xavier Jackson has come in from Warden, Texas, to participate in the camp as one of the coaches.

“I’ve been working with Matt Barnes for a while and after they hooked up with Sam Nichols, they invited me to join them in coming here for the camp,” Jackson said. “This is my second year and I just love being out here, meeting new people and developing the consistency with the kids.”

After their plans were interrupted last year by the inclement weather and not all of the schools out for the summer, Jackson said it was good for them to come back when everything is much better because they get to do a lot more with the campers, teaching them as much as they can.

Brandon Steinke, who is originally from Ohio, said he moved to Texas about four years ago and after he was introduced to Nichols, he jumped at the idea of coming to the Bahamas to make a contribution to the success of the camp this year.

“It’s been great. The kids are very enthusiastic and they have been willing to do everything that you’ve told them to do,” Steinke said. “It’s been fantastic.”

Other than taking a two-hour journey to Canada by car, Steinke said he has never left the United States, so he was quite enticed by the idea of joining the other coaches in taking the flight to come all the way to the Bahamas. “I’m loving it down here,” he said.

In order to ensure the success of the camp, a number of local companies have come on board as sponsors. One of them is Rotary Club of Nassau Sunrise, who have not donated any money, but members are out each day to assist the organisers.

Another is Father James Palacious, rector of St Matthew’s Church.

“We want to make a difference and of course sports is a way to do it, so we try to instill in these youngsters that whether you make it big into college and then not to mention the NBA or the WNBA, or some other league, we really want to develop a degree of discipline,” Palacious said.

“That’s what sports does, probably more so than any other activity. It’s a curving of your natural tendency to mess around, to waste time with people who ain’t going nowhere, but sports does just the opposite. In basketball, you have to be a good shooter and you have to practice. Sports reminds you that success comes after you have put in the hard work.”

Palacious encouraged the local coaches who take the time out to assist the international coaches in their effort to improve the skill level of the players who come out and participate in the camp.

One of them is 14-year-old Rhyan Roberts, who will be entering the 10th grade at St Augustine’s College. This is the fourth year that she has been at the camp.

“I come back because it helps me to build up the courage to play basketball. I’m a little shy to go out and try out for our school team,” she said. “But this is a good way for me to break out of the shell and make some more people from the different schools who can encourage me.”

One of the things that Roberts said she really enjoys about the camp is the fact that they are pushed to participate and the instructors work closely to help them with whatever difficulties they experience.

For Jordan Khalfani, also 14, the camp is helping her to get ready for the upcoming basketball season with the HO Nash Lions in the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association.

“The camp has been going good. We have a lot of stuff to learn, but the girls here all help each other out,” said Khalfani, who is preparing for grade nine in September. “The coaches not only give you instructions, but they take the time out to teach you how to do it. “I’ve learnt how to develop my defensive skills, try to stay on your toes and to try to get the ball in the basket,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun and I really enjoy it.”

Pattie Johnson, coach of the Lions at HO Nash, said after she met Nichols in the United States at one of the collegiate basketball conferences, he agreed to visit the Bahamas to attend the then Mother Pratt Basketball Camp. As a result of his visit, Johnson said Nichols said they need to host the Basketball Smiles Camp, which continues to grow year after year.

“He’s fundamentally sound and the coaches who he brings with him have been doing an excellent job. I just stay on the sideline and watch and learn as much as I could and then I apply it to my team in practice,” Johnson said. “This camp teaches the players discipline and team work, so it makes it easier for me when they come to practice. It reinforces what I teach them.”

While Johnson works specifically with the girls, Johnson said Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson assists with the coaches with the boys in the afternoon.

Once the three-day camp is completed today, Johnson said she looks forward to hosting Nichols and the coaches at HO Nash, starting at 9am Thursday before they finish up in Gambier in the afternoon. Before the camp wraps up, there is an awards presentation and each participant will also be presented with their own basketball.