WS Chronicle

BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY 

THE CHRONICLE

Carver High School alum and WNBA veteran Camille Little will hold a basketball camp on Saturday, March 25 for young men and women in the Forsyth County area. The camp will have three separate sessions for beginners, intermediate and advanced player levels.

The camp will take place at the W.R. Anderson Recreation Center, 2450 Reynolds Park Road, Winston-Salem, and space is limited to 15-20 kids per class.  The cost for the camp is $25.  The beginners session will run from noon-1 p.m., intermediate session from 1:30-2:30 p.m., and the advanced session from 3-4 p.m.  Check-in will be 30 minutes before each session is to begin.

Little graduated from Carver High School in 2003 and was a McDonald’s All-American before attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 2003-2007.  While playing for the Tar Heels, she was named ACC Rookie of the Year (2004), Second Team All-ACC (2007), Third Team All-ACC (2005,06) and ACC All-Defensive team member (2007).

She was drafted by the San Antonio Silver Stars in 2007 and helped the Seattle Storm win a WNBA Championship in 2010.  This off-season she was traded to the Phoenix Mercury, where she will play next season.

Little says she wanted to have the camp this year because she is rarely home to have a camp due to her playing overseas during the off-season of the WNBA year. This year she decided to take a break and have a chance to show the youth the skills she has learned over the years of playing basketball.

“It’s a great feeling to be able to give back to the kids, which is why I wanted to do it at the rec center because that’s where I started,” Little said.  “I played a lot at Carl Russell [rec center] and I think it’s great that Winston-Salem has that opening to have kids just go and play.  And it’s a blessing to have those great people that work at those places supporting the kids the way they do.”

Little says she wants the parents to be cognizant of their child’s skill level in order to make sure the camp runs smoothly.  She also said based off of the response of this camp, she will hold another one soon.

Each session will be different and following each one there will be a question and answer period where the kids can ask Little questions and she will sign autographs and take photos.

“I really just want to give the kids a chance to hear me speak about my journey and how they will have to sacrifice their time and really pouring themselves into their craft, whether it be on the basketball court or elsewhere,” said Little.  “Once they realize what they want to do is going to be hard work, they have to decide what’s most important to them because you will have to miss out on some things.”

Sign-up for the camp is available through the “Coachup” app only.  Money will not be accepted at the door.