Capilano University is coming to Squamish and bringing along its balls.
The school is set to invade Squamish later this summer for the first-ever Allball Basketball Camp designed specifically for young roundball fanatics.
“As a school we’ve been running camps like this on the North Shore for 20 to 25 years and have had success,” said Ryan Lenarduzzi, the athletic events, recreation and sport development officer for Capilano. “We decided that we would like to try to extend our brand up to Squamish and see how we’re received.”
Lenarduzzi said the school has formed a partnership with the Vancouver-based Allball Academy and the two groups will come together to put on the camp. The camps will be coached by Isaac Watson, a New York native who has worked with NBA players such as Metta World Peace, Stephon Marbury and Elton Brand.
“Isaac is one of those guys with a very magnetic personality and has worked with so many different athletes from so many walks of life,” he said. “He brings the camp street cred, but not in a bad way. He’s intense but he can relate to the kids and gets people to work their hardest. He’s got so much knowledge about the game, it’s crazy.”
The five-day camps will see students work on a variety of skills, focusing on a specific skill each day. Students will then work on those skills in interactive drills and learn how to apply the skill to game situations. The last day of camp is a tournament-style format with students hitting the hardwood against one another using the skills they learned in camp.
“The best part about our camp is the kids work hard and work together and by the end of the camp they’ll feel like they’re part of something,” Lenarduzzi said. “They’ve done it all together, put in hard work and hopefully made some new friends.”
Lenarduzzi said the athletics department of Capilano is hoping to increase the school’s visibility in Squamish with this camp and other similar projects.
“No offence to Quest but Squamish is our turf, in my opinion,” he said. “We were there first and I know we haven’t done the best job of doing a whole lot out there, but for the athletics department maybe we can become the leaders to show the school that there is a huge community in Squamish. It’s a community with so many young families and I’d love to be able to extend all the things we’re doing down here up there.”
Lenarduzzi said the school may run some community outreach programs in the fall and he hopes to also run a free clinic prior to the basketball camp to raise awareness.
“We want to be a part of the community in Squamish because we feel like it’s our community too,” he said.
The Allball Basketball Camps run from Aug. 27 to 31 at Don Ross Secondary School. Boys and girls entering Grades 5 to 7 hit the hardwood from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with boys entering Grades 8 to 10 on the floor from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Those interested can register online by visiting www.capilanou.ca/blues.
