The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WHILE the majority of summer basketball camps are staged in a gymnasium with a fee being charged, the inaugural Mario Bowleg Fundamental Basketball Camp is outdoors at the Garden Hills No.1 Park and it’s free of charge.

The former coach at St Andrew’s School, CC Sweeting Secondary High and of the men’s national basketball team, is hosting the camp in his first year as the president of the Bahamas Basketball Federation.

The week-long camp is designed for boys and girls between the ages of five and 15 years. It got started on Monday and will wrap up on Friday. The hours of operation are from 10am to 2pm.

With a cadre of coaches assisting him, whom he has either coached or assisted him in coaching, Bowleg said it made his initial tournament a tremendous success so far.

“Every day we have been increasing our participants,” he said. “The first day on Monday, we had about 40 kids, on Tuesday, we doubled that to about 80 kids and this is just the third day and the numbers are consistent.

“By Thursday and Friday when we finish the camp, we expect that the numbers will be pushed over 100 because we have coach Pattie Johnson from HO Nash coming in with some of the kids and she will be helping us out as well.”

Having gotten so much out of basketball, beginning as a player for the Fighting Tigers at AF Adderley, to coaching at the high school, night league and national programme, Bowleg said it was always his desire to provide a free basketball clinic so that players can learn the fundamentals of the game.

Among those who are assisting Bowleg are Wayde Adderley, Nigel Ingraham, Dereck ‘DC’ Cunningham and Tiffany Wildgoose.

Softball player Linda Kay Knowles is also lending her support through sponsor Sonny from Sunshine Auto.

“We want to give them the best and all of these coaches are giving of their time free,” Bowleg pointed out. “Coaches are giving their free time and the kids are getting free t-shirts and lunch, thanks to sponsors like Sunshine Auto, Career Builders and Impact Waste Management.”

Bowleg said he’s appreciative to all those who have assisted in making his first annual camp a success and he looks forward to having more of these camps instituted in the future under the BBF.

Adderley said Bowleg is heading in the right direction and he wants to be a part of it.

“I have assisted Mario for many years at the CC Sweeting programme, so it’s only natural that I come here and assist him with his endeavours in the community,” Adderley charged.

“Anything that Mario is doing in regards to basketball, I will be there because he was there to help me during the transition in the sport of basketball as a coach. This is a great opportunity to keep the kids out of trouble during the summer, so I’m glad to be here.”

Ingraham, who previously coached the RM Bailey Pacers senior boys’ basketball team, said he would not have passed up the opportunity to share his expertise to the future generation.

“It’s not just about basketball, but it’s about impacting the future generation through spiritual skills and how to develop your mind, body and soul,” Ingraham said. “We also want to help them to interact socially and develop friends, who they can cherish for life. “We also want them to learn about discipline because discipline is all about sports. We want them to develop their basketball skills as they go along, but it’s more than just basketball we are teaching, it’s about lifelong skills and friends, which is better than a pocket full of money.”

Cunningham, a former assistant coach of Bowleg at CC Sweeting, said he’s delighted to be able to assist Bowleg, whom he regards as an awesome basketball genius when it comes to coaching.

“We have kids from the east to the west, south and north, just to get a piece of the action,” Cunningham said. “We have players from Bain Town, Coral Harbour, Elizabeth Estates, so we have a good group of kids coming together. It’s going very good.”

Calscia McKenzie, a nine-year-old going into the fifth grade at Carlton E Francis Primary School, said when she heard about the camp, she was interested because they told her it would be a lot of fun and she would learn a lot of things.

“It’s going good. I am enjoying it,” she said. “We learn how to dribble with our two hands and to exercise to get our bodies moving.”

David Williams, a 12-year-old going into the seventh grade at Bahamas Academy, said he decided to come to the camp because he wanted to develop his game all around.

“I’ve learnt not to be scared and be willing to pass the ball,” Williams said. “It’s a team sport so you have to play together as one.”

And Bowleg’s son, Mario Bowleg Jr, is pleased that so many people are helping his father.

“I feel very good,” he said about the camp being in his father’s honour.

He noted that he’s learning quite a bit and can’t wait to play for the HO Nash Lions when the new school year opens in September.