Where Discipline, Determination, and Dedication Rule
June
22, 2007 - Those are the founding principles of Wizards forward, Caron Butler and his 3D basketball camp for boys
and girls.
The
camp, which included students from around the D.C. metro area ages eight to sixteen was held June 18th
through June 22nd at Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Maryland.
Says
Caron, “I feel that with the 3Ds you can get through any obstacle in life as well as use the skills on the
basketball court. But first, and foremost, you’re talking about using the
3Ds in life.”
“We
had a lot of situations where we had to discipline a lot of the kids and talk to them and [implement] more of the 3Ds
on them, and they took it well. They took the disappointments of doing pushups
or running extra laps, or whatever they had to do, and incorporated it well and learned from it.”
The
camp teaches basketball fundamentals such as passing, ball handling and shooting. By
the looks of the skill levels of the camp’s students one would think the camp either has some fast learners or they
just brought their ‘A’ game with them.
The
students were grouped in to one of three skill levels: High School (Level I), College (Level II), and the NBA (Level
III).
“The
kids have adapted to the 3Ds well and they’ve been having fun. What’s
been special for me is seeing the kids improve and progress as the days go on”, explains Butler.
Eleventh
grader, and female student ‘Dominque’ who began the camp with little to no basketball skills became the camp’s
number one defensive stopper.
“I
learned a lot about the fundamentals of basketball; but band is my number one priority”, the performing arts student
explained.
The
final day saw the staff vs. students in a game where even Caron got the ball stolen away by one of the students. The score was eventually tied at thirty three with some very happy kids excited they got the chance to
play with an NBA All Star.
Says
fifteen-year old student, James Garner, “I thought he (Caron) would be taller.”
Caron
credits the Wizards family and players like Etan Thomas and Andray Blatche, the coaching staff, and G Man (Wizards mascot)
for coming out to support the camp to help make it a success.
Nike
Rep Keith Veney, a Bishop McNamara graduate, has ten years of coaching basketball camps. He helped
organize the camp (in ninety days) and it was his idea to have the camp at Bishop.
Says Veney, “the kids can leave this camp saying I learned some really good life lessons,
and I played basketball with an NBA player. These are kids who may not have seen
an NBA game, let alone the opportunity to say I played basketball with Caron Butler.”
At
camp's end the students were rewarded for their efforts. Harleigh Bean, became the MVP for girls of the camp. Ms. Bean, also a performing arts student, plays both trumpet
and piano and is involved with the DC Youth Orchestra.
All students were rewarded with a back pack that included
a Caron Butler bobble head, T-shirt and head band, a Down Town Locker Room gift certificate, and two tickets to a 2007-2008 Washington Wizards home game.
This
year’s camp boasted 160 students, with next year’s camp expected to be even bigger.
A job
well done for Caron and his crew!
For
info see www.3dbasketballcamp.com.
See camp photos .
_____________________
Caron
on Gilbert Arenas' future with the Wizards.
Caron
tells DC Urban Sports, "I don't think Gilbert's going anywhere, and I look foward to playing with Gilbert a long time and
making basketball history."
More
summer-time fun with the Washington Wizards.
Roger Mason, Jr. prepares for his summer basketball camp
Andray
Blatche and Roger Mason, Jr. at the Hoop Dreams 3-on-3 basketball tournament.
