Participants of the Athletes In Action basketball camp will discover something a little different.
"What I think really sets us apart is that each of our coaches is concerned with the campers, not just with what their potential is as athletes but with who they are individually," said camp coordinator and head coach Matt Guynup. "I've been to lots of camps and there are great people working at those camps but they're there to make you a better basketball player. They might take an interest in one or two of the kids and really invest but I would say the reason why we hire the people that we do is because of their concern for people as individuals and what they invest in them personally."
The AIA camp runs today through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the College of New Caledonia gymnasium. Players in the 11 to 17 age range are welcome to attend and can register online (www.athletesinaction.com) or at CNC on Tuesday morning.
Guynup's coaching staff includes Marek Klassen, Chelsey Olsen and Hannah Klassen.
Marek Klassen plays NCAA Division 2 basketball for Point Loma Nazarene University of San Diego and was a Basketball BC player of the year two years ago. Olsen, meanwhile, is a member of the Trinity Western University women's team, which is based in Langley and competes in the Canada West conference of Canadian Interuniversity Sport. Hannah Klassen will be a rookie this season at Briercrest College, a Caronport, Sask., institution that has membership in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.
Guynup, an assistant coach at Abbotsford's Columbia Bible College, has decided not to try to teach campers all the elements of the game. Instead, the focus will be on the development of individual offensive skills.
"We've done a lot of defensive stuff in the past but we thought this would be a good chance to just focus on where people are offensively and build on that," he said.
Prince George is the first stop for the camp. This summer, it will also be on the hardwood in Kelowna, Abbotsford, Cloverdale, Victoria and Langley, which is its home turf.
n The first of the UNBC Summer Basketball Camps will be held July 9-12 at the Northern Sport Centre. Instruction will be offered for players in Grades 2 to 6 and 7 to 10. Registration forms are available at the NSC and online at www.unbc.ca/athletics.
