The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

For the past three weeks, the Anatol Rodgers High School was buzzing with activities as the Southwest Basketball Camp was held for boys and girls, particularly from the surrounding schools.

The camp, which is slated to wrap up today with the awards presentation, was organised by Pernell Bain, assisted by Varel Davis, Chevy Simmons, Shawn Christie and Tamar Bodie.

For the duration of the final week, coach Charles Ruise from Baker County School in Baker County, Florida, visited the camp where he provided some instructions to the enthusiastic campers.

“It’s been going great. The kids have received the information that I’ve given them with open arms and it’s been a treat for me just being in the Bahamas,” said Ruise, who made his initial trip here. “What a way to spend your time working. I love it. I love the island. I love what coach (Bain) is trying to do down here with the kids.”

Each summer, Ruise said he and Bain attend the same basketball camp in Tallahassee and they began dialogue with the view of the start of an exchange programme.

“It was an opportunity that I wouldn’t turn down for the world,” Ruise said. “A lot of the stuff that I’m teaching them, they already know. I’m just giving them a little enhancement so that if the opportunity comes and they get to go to the states, they are right there with the skills and competing at the same level.”

Ruise said if there was anything he was impressed with, it was the motivation level of the campers.

“I want to take what I learn here from these kids and kind of introduce that to our kids,” he said. “These kids were very receptive and I think that is something that I will take back with me.”

Bain said it’s always good when a foreign coach can come in and reinforce the things that the local coaches have been trying to instil in the players.

“He only enhanced what we were doing, but he also showed them the many opportunities that are out there and what the coaches in the United States are looking for,” Bain said. “At the end of the day, most of the kids want to play basketball in America and so they need to know more about the academic, work ethic and everything they need to put in to become a good basketball player.”

For the first year, Bain said it was a wonderful experience over the past three years. “The kids were enthusiastic. We had a good turnout. The kids came out and they participated. I feel as if our objectives were met,” he said. “We wanted to continue on participation rather than competition. We were able to teach them team work and how to become better citizens.”

Davis said the coaches got together with the idea of providing an avenue for players in the southern end of the island to participate in a wholesome activity.

“Hopefully next year we will be even bigger and better,” Davis said. “The response for the first one could have been a lot better, but everybody starts from this position. Hopefully next year, we will see a lot more participants because of what we were able to teach this group.

“We got to do a lot of one-on-one fundamentals because it was a smaller camp. By the time these children go back to school, they should be better players and hopefully be able to make a contribution to their various basketball teams.”

Two of the campers noted how pleased they were with the instructions that they received.

Ahmad Darville, a student of Anatol Rodgers, said it was a fun-filled camp.

“We got to learn a lot of things and develop our skills,” said the 15-year-old Darville, who is preparing to enter grade 12. “I know I learned about defense. Defense is very important. Before the camp, I didn’t used to play a lot of defense, but I’ve learnt to play it a lot better now.”

Tahj-nee Thurston, a 15-year-old also from Anatol Rodgers, said she certainly enjoyed herself.

“This is the first camp that our basketball coach (Bain) had held and he invited all of our basketball teams from the school,” said Thurston, who will be entering the 11th grade in September. “It’s been wonderful because I learned a lot of new things that I haven’t learnt in the other camps that I went to.

“I learn that it’s not a one person show in basketball. It’s a team game. So whenever you are playing, you have to learn to play together with the entire team.”

Ruise said while he was impressed with the campers, there was one player who stood out. “I had a chance to see Michael Bethel play. He’s a real good kid,” Ruise said. “He has a lot of nice intangibles that he has. If he was in the United States, the coaches will be looking hard at him. I was very impressed with him.”

As he departed, Ruise left a valuable lesson for all of the campers.

“Improve on your game. Whatever opportunity that the coaches provide, whether it’s camps or what have you, stay on top of that. Work on it so that whenever coaches come, they will be eager to get you into the United States, whether it’s on a scholarship or trying to get you into high schools over there,” he said.

Bain said they intend to bring Ruise back at Christmas time when they plan to stage another segment of the camp with a one-day clinic.