Basketball Camp

          Basketball was a huge part of my life. Ever since I was old enough, I am pretty sure I had a basketball in my hand as I came from a basketball enthusiast family; they still are today. I was pretty fortunate to have a successfuly basketball career ever since my elementary days.
         When I was in sixth grade, our team was the first Comfrey girls elementary basketball team to win the Comfrey Elementary Tournament in 7 years; we were pretty pumped! As I developed as a player I also became a leader. My high school coach Mike Kelly said in a letter of recommendation that he was never worried about the game when he knew that I was on the floor; he said that it was like I was his voice out on the court. I went onto a career record of 74-11 at the varsity level for Cedar Mountain Comfrey Girls Basketball. During my freshman to senior year I accomplished a lot and was awarded with a lot: 2 year KNUJ Player of the Week, Team Co-MVP, Co-Captain, 2009 State Class A Runner-Up Team, Wells Fargo All-State Tournament Team, Academic All-Conference and All-State, 4-year letter winner, and several area tournament team player awards.
          I dedicated a lot of my time in high school to the game of basketball. I grew as a leader through the sport and made so many friends and memories in only a few short years.

          As my career began to finish I looked for opportunities to still be involved in the sport. During high school I helped with our elementary girls basketball program. During college, I have spent the last two years officiating  elementary basketball games through the Lincoln YMCA. I am hoping to continue officiating and hopefully follow in my father's footsteps by becoming an Official someday and maybe look at coaching somewhere down the road.
         I was able to do some coaching this past week through the girls elementary basketball camp I hosted through my internship. One of UNL Extension's signature outcomes is Healthy Lifestyles, and I thought, "what a great way to incorporate my love for basketball into an educational program!" I had five wonderful girls join me at the Ainsworth Community Center from 9:30 a.m. till noon on July 16th through July 19th.

<<<< IT WAS A BLAST! >>>>

          The girls were energetic and willing to learn. We worked a lot on fundamentals; dribbling, shooting, passing, and defense. My coach always preached that "I don't care how old you are, you need to constantly practice fundamentals," and that we did my entire career. It was nice having only five girls since that way I was truly able to get some one on one with them so they would actually learn something during the four days. Today, we invited family and friends to watch us do some of our drills, view a slideshow of pictures from throughout the week, have a snack, and see the girls receive a gift from me for their participation. I had several of the family and friends tell me THANK YOU for doing this and that they could see that their little girl had already improved so much in just a short four days. I had so much fun, they seemed to enjoy. It is a wonderful feeling to be able to help youngsters like these girls develop skills that will help not only their game but in the game of life. Being a part of a team can be one of the best experiences. You learn to be a leader as well as a follower. You are able to learn from others and develop skills you may have never thought you had. These girls will go far in life with their positive attitudes and go-getter determination!



Thank you for a great week! I look forward to passing on my knowlege of the game of basketball to other individuals in the years to come.