The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

BALLIN’ By Da Beach Basketball Camp returns to the courts this summer with several new initiatives in place for the 2017 edition. This year’s weeklong event is all set to be hosted June 26-30 at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

The programme was created by Jurelle Nairn in 2010 when she saw a need to place a greater focus on the development of women’s basketball at the youth level.

Previously a camp exclusively for girls, this year’s event will also be open to boys as well, facilitating players ages 5-18, with packages ranging from $50 to $125. The two camps will be held at the same time but will remain separate.

SJ Lennon, game operations coordinator for the Toronto Raptors and founder of BallUp Academy, alongside Tim Lewis of Montreat College, Assistant Coach (Ashville, North Carolina) and Crossover Athletics, will conduct the boys’ segment of the camp.

Familiar camp conductor, Charisse Mapp, will again host the girls’ segment for the eighth time. She is currently the head coach at Charlotte Latin High School (Charlotte, North Carolina) and Founder of Queen City Athletics.

Mapp, a former player for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was coaching at Salisbury University where she first met Nairn, who served as her assistant coach. When Nairn decided to start theBallin’ By Da Beach Camp, the first person she turned to for assistance was Mapp.

The 2016 camp was cancelled because of issues with the facilities but Mapp still made the trip to the Bahamas and assisted with summer programmes hosted by Sherelle Cash and Pattie Johnson.

Camp organisers are expecting both local and international attendees.

A press release issued by the organisation said: “Our mission is to take a personal interest in every basketball player and coach to help them become game changers on and off the court. Our vision is to build a movement of passionate basketball players by delivering excellence through the game. Our vision inspires us in our daily work. We create a diverse, collaborative, encouraging environment where teamwork and openness are the cornerstones.”

Since 2010, the camp has featured hundreds of underserved, aspiring student athletes.

In addition to serving as an assistant at Salisbury University, Nairn has coached the Queen’s College Comets and was an assistant on the women’s national basketball team. “This movement was birthed from my passion to serve and inspire change in the Bahamas through basketball. Since I started playing basketball, God has just graced me with His favour over and over again,” she said during previous editions of the camp. “I can truly say that I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for basketball,” she said. “It has opened doors that would have never been opened had I not played for the right people, in the right place, at the right time.”

Interested persons can register at www.BBDBCamps.com., with further information via Twitter - @BBDBCamps, Facebook - www.facebook.com/bbdbcamps or E-mail - hello@bbdbcamps.com