Summer holiday camp success and planning for the new season

Over the summer we put on our very first basketball camp which ran for one week from July to August 2017. Our format was based on 6 main pillars, fun, health, fitness, team work, participation, and inclusion. Our Gators Nations Basketball Camp theme would be represented by two countries, USA and Brazil. Navy blue with a red trim kit was Team USA and yellow with a green trim kit was Team Brazil. All full day week campers received free camp uniform that included team shirt with the matching team camp bag. Lucky winners of the camper of the day award got prizes like, sports wrist and head bands, water bottles, bags, t-shirts and much more. Both the USA and Brazil teams would then be split into two sub teams A and B. Team A where for campers aged between 6-12 years old and team B for campers aged between 13-15 years old.

Teams would compete in a series of different games in the morning like dodge ball, capture the flag, bench puzzle, and tag. After this camp would progress into different basketball based drills where group A and B would split up. This section of the camp was more focused on the individual camper to help improve the players fundamentals and technique. For our B group we raised the level and also tested them on speed, strength, and quickness. After lunch in the afternoon teams faced off against each other in matches where Team USA and Team Brazil A&B players would play each other in split 4 quarter matches. All through out the day campers can score points for their country by winning morning fun games and competitions based on drills learnt. Team matches in the afternoon is where the highest points could be gained for the winning country.

This would be the running theme all week at camp and then on the final day of camp we had our special guest Great Britain under 20 international basketball player Amin Adamu. He had just returned back from international duty at the FIBA European championships in Romania where Team GB won bronze and promotion into FIBA division A. I coached Amin when he was just 13 years old and played basketball for my old club NASSA based in Newham east London. It was great to have one of my ex players at camp a future senior GB international basketball player speaking to campers passing on his own experience. Showing the campers that with lots of hard work dedication and a willing spirit they too could one day be an international basketball player. Amin also participated in a slam dunk show and in our All Star Game where he, leaders, and myself took on our young campers. Shamefully we lost that to the budding campers with a score line of 80-58. I would just like to point out we awarded campers 10 points for every single basket they scored unlike the normal 2 points you get for a basket scored in any other normal basketball match, but it was all good fun in the end.

Camp ended with Team Brazil losing the final match against Team USA but Team Brazil would be crowned Gators Nations champions as they had scored the most points all week during camp winning all the other non-basketball games and basketball drills. Amin presented medals, trophies, camp winners, and M.V.P awards to our campers before camp came to close. Gators Nations camp was a success because we are a new sports club in the area and managed to get over 30 children attend our camp. We even had children traveling from other parts of London like Camden, Waltham Forest and Essex attending our camp.

Chiswick Gators basketball club can now use this to build our club by attracting more players to form other age group teams like under 12, under 14 and gain new players for our current under 16 team. Club training resumes on Friday the 8th of September 2017 from 5pm-7pm at the Chiswick school sports and fitness center London W4 3UN. On Sunday October 1st from 10am-12pm training returns at the City of Westminster college 25 Paddington green, London W2 1NB. This session is mainly for our under 14 & 16 team.

We will be rejoining the London Community Basketball League (CBL) with our current U16 team with the additions of two new age group teams U12 mixed and U14 boy/girls team. With returning coaches Cloudio Santos, Tom Williamson and our young leader Kyle Isidore. Chiswick Gators can look forward to a bright 2017-2018 season, with hope and build on from last year stronger and better. New age group teams new players brand new team kit by Nike elite and a revamped website. Our west London area of Chiswick can rest assured its being well and truly represented in basketball this coming season.

Lastly in the famous words of our club mascot Garry the Gator "Lets Go Gators........Lets Go!"

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