Hot Springs students hit the hardwood

HOT SPRINGS – The shouts of enthusiastic children echoed through the gymnasium at Hot Springs High School as the youth basketball camp held its final day of activities.

From Monday, July 7 to Thursday, July 10 the school played host to young students interested in taking a little time out of their summer to learn about the sport of basketball.

The four-day camp was open to elementary students from second through sixth grade and took place in the morning.

“We covered mostly fundamentals during the week,” Ricky DePoe, head coach of the Hot Springs boys basketball team, said.

Michelle Hunter, first year coach of the Hot Springs girls basketball team, was also on hand to introduce the young students to the game of basketball.

The basketball camp received a solid turnout throughout the week and over 25 students were in attendance for the final day.

Assisting the two coaches were a group of high school students, members of the boys and girls basketball teams at Hot Springs.

The student athletes helped take part in some of the games with the younger students.

On the camp’s final day the emphasis of group activities was entirely focused on having fun as the students partook in a number of games and skills competitions to end their week on a high note.

“It’s the last day so we are playing a lot of games,” DePoe said.

Some of the games students were able to compete in on Thursday included several team based dribbling competitions and a couple competitive rounds of knockout.

For the dribbling contests the students broke into several groups and lined one end of the gym before beginning the event.

Emphasizing ball handling, the contests featured students running from one side of the gym to the other, dribbling the ball, while they raced students from other teams.

The dribbling race was set in a relay format and once a student dribbled from one end of the gym to the other, he or she would pass to their teammate who would begin the drill again before passing the basketball to another teammate.

Variations of the contest featured races where students could only dribble with their left or right hands, and there was also a race where students had to perform a crossover style dribble as they raced across the length of the basketball court.

The final event of the day and the camp was knockout.

A classic basketball pick up game, popular at playgrounds across the country, knockout is a game involving two basketballs and many participants.

The game starts with participants forming a line with the two individuals nearest the basket with the two basketballs.

The individual closest to the basket shoots first and the person behind them attempts to make a basket before the first person does.

If the second shooter makes a basket before the first shooter, the first player is out.

This format continues down the line until there are two players left, and progresses until everyone but one is eliminated.

At the Hot Springs basketball camp the students seemed to have quite a bit of fun with this game and the friendly competition ended the camp on a positive note for all the participants.

The camp marked the final Summer Fun Program of the vacation.