For basketball coaches there is always one given that exists during the summer: camp. Most, if not all, coaches hold their own team camp as well as one for youth players. This week we’re going to discuss the benefits of attending a summer team camp.
I am a big believer in taking your team out-of-town for camp. Taking your team to a camp where an overnight stay is required is a great benefit. It breaks up the open gym monotony while providing a new experience for many of your players. An out-of-town summer camp gives both the players and coaches something to look forward to. As a player myself, I always loved going to camp where we got to stay a night or two in a hotel or college dorm room. To this day I can still recall so many great memories from those summer camps.
The most important benefit of having your team attend a summer camp is the team bonding that takes place. It’s great to work on X’s and O’s, but leaving camp a closer, more united team is what is important. Players and coaches get to eat meals together and spend a lot of downtime in between games together. The focus shouldn’t always be on basketball, and this is where people can really get to know one another’s personality. We’ve started a tradition while at summer camp of having a team bonding night. During this time all players go around and specifically tell each player what they’re good at and what they bring to the team. This may not sound that important, but it’s hard to do this in front of your peers when you’re a high school kid, and it can get emotional at times. After this I talk to the team and give them advice on basketball and life. Finally, our word for the year is introduced. We pick one word that sums up what our team will focus on and represent during the upcoming season. This has become something that my players and I both look forward to and we leave camp a much closer team.