The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

After spending the past three days instructing the boys and girls in the Basketball Smiles camp at the CI Gibson Gymnasium, legendary coach Sam Nichols will today turn his attention to the local coaches.

Nichols, who retired from McMurry University as the all-time winningest women's basketball coach and now operates his Basketball Smiles programme out of Abilene, Texas, is scheduled to conduct the one-day clinic 9am to noon.

"This is our 13th year for the camp, but Patty (Johnson) told me that it's a little too expensive for a lot of the coaches to go to the United States and she wanted us to conduct a coaches clinic here," said Nichols about the formation of the clinic that came after he started the camp.

Nichols, who was inducted into the Women's Basketball Coaches Association 600 Victory Club and Hall of Fame, said he will take the local coaches into a three-hour programme where he will not only give them instructions, but will take the time out to hear their concerns as well.

"Having coached for as long as I did, you enjoy doing clinics," said Nichols, who has had a career that has spun more than 30 years. "I've been all over the world conducting clinics, but I always enjoy being here in the Bahamas.

"Basketball is the greatest game in the world and I enjoy the camaraderie of the sport and trying to improve the coaches and the players at the same time."

The clinic, according to Nichols, is open to all local coaches who have a passion for learning more about the sport.

Patty Johnson, the winningest women's high school basketball coach in the country, has been working with Nichols since they first met in San Jose, California, in 1999 at the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Convention.

Johnson invited Nichols to the Bahamas where he held the first Basketball Smiles camp that same year and the two have been inseparable as the camp and now the clinic continues to grow by leaps and bounds.

"This is where I get my edge from, new ideas, things you can try and don't try," Johnson noted.

"This is how you learn about the game. If he's teaching and you don't understand something, you can always go on the side and ask him."

While the focus switches to the clinic today, Johnson said she was a little bit disappointed that there were not as many girls who showed up to participate in the basketball camp.

"It could have been more and I wish the camp could have been longer," Johnson stated. "But unfortunately, we got the three days in and the kids that were here learnt a lot."

As the camp came to a close yesterday, each participant received a T-shirt and a basketball. Lunch was also provided daily through the assistance of the Lyford Cay Foundation.

Nichols was assisted by a cadre of coaches from Texas, including Randy Thompson, Johnson and Stephanie Pastuska, Adam Young, Kevin Crowsen and Andrew and Megann Harlow.

Trevor Strachan, the proprietor of the Windshield House and Parts Locator, the original sponsor of the camp, said he was just overseeing the camp with a view of taking an even more significant role next year.

"I got involved with Patty and Sam about 13 years ago when we made a small contribution to the camp," he said.

"But we want to play a larger and bigger part next year so we will be sitting down and looking at ways that we can improve it."

Strachan said he was thrilled with the way the camp has progressed and he's looking forward to continuing to help it to get even better in the future.

NOTE: The Basketball Smiles programme received a donation of $500 from the Rotary Club of East Nassau and meals and drinks from the Rotary Club of Nassau Sunrise.