Christian organization holds basketball camp
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is looking to expand their reach throughout the Triad community. This Saturday, April 30, the FCA is hosting a skills clinic and challenge for boys and girls ages 8-13 at Calvary Day School.
FCA is the largest interdenominational, school-based, Christian sports organization in America. They focus on serving local communities by equipping, empowering and encouraging people to make a difference for Jesus Christ.
To assist in reaching more student athletes, they are hosting the Jr. NBA camp. The FCA connected with the Jr. NBA several years ago, working with them in another camp at a local recreation center. The winner of this camp has the opportunity to compete in a regional meet. If successful there, they have a chance to win a trip to the 2022 NBA Draft.
The camp will focus on the different skills of the game including shooting, layups, passing, dribbling and defense. There will be volunteer coaches from local high schools and colleges to assist with the camp. The kids will then participate in the skills challenge.
“The kids will go through drills for the first portion with the coaches that are coming out to volunteer their time and give back and the second part of it will be the skills challenge,” said Bershaun Thompson, director of the Western Triad area of the FCA. “They will be timed, and each kid will have the same amount of time to complete the challenges.
“We will have some shooting drills that will help them work on their shooting form. We will work on the fundamentals of how to do a layup on the right and left side. We will work on the basics of passing. We will work on footwork on defense and then we will work on dribble speed and ball control.”
The Jr. NBA is an initiative from the NBA to get kids to become more active and improve their fitness level. The Jr. NBA offers leagues, skills challenges and different programs to get kids moving.
Thompson said he was overjoyed to bring this opportunity to kids of the Triad area because it is a great opportunity to learn and obtain skills that will make them better players in the long run.
“The biggest opportunity is to improve their fitness. They are going to be coached by some of the areas’ best coaches, and we want to make sure we share our core values which we want to instill, so if you want to improve not only your skills on the court but if you want to grow in your integrity, be a better servant leader, being better at teamwork and excellence will be the biggest contributing factor,” said Thompson about what the kids can take away from the camp.
“They will be able to take that home, to school and on the court and that is something we pride ourselves on, being able to utilize the platform of sports to help point kids in the right direction.”
The camp is one of the ways the FCA is attempting to reach more athletes and make a bigger footprint in the Triad area. Thompson said this is the first of many camps the FCA plans to hold in the area and hopes to build a lasting relationship with the parents and players.
Breakfast for the event will start at 8 a.m., followed by registration at 8:30 a.m. The camp will begin at 9 a.m. A special thanks to Alvin Robinson for providing the food for the campers.
For more information on the Jr. NBA Skills Challenge, please visit the FCA website at westerntriadfca.org.
