The Badlands Basketball camps wrapped up on Thursday July 9th, with the final day of the Junior Camp and the Elite camp ending on Sunday, July 5th.Both camps had over 20 participants and were full of promising young basketball stars.
The camps were put on by Chad Pidhaichuk and Jesse McLean, with help from Ryan Wade, Tyler Fournier and Will Belliveau, all DCHS Dynos basketball alumni. The camp covered topics such as individual offense & defense, shooting, ball handling and transition offense and defense.
The kids had a lot of fun and learned a great deal which made the coaches very pleased.
“It is amazing to me how quickly the game of basketball has grown in Drumheller. We used to put on these camps and we were forced to work on the basics, but now, these kids already have the basics and they are quite the players. It is great to really challenge them with intense and difficult drills and see them rise to that level and improve,” said coach McLean.
This year’s camp offered a few new concepts including some coaching “Chalk Talks”, tiered skill level stations and work on strength, conditioning and agility.
“Pidhaichuk is our fitness guru and with the Sport Performance option he taught at DCHS this past year, he has been able to develop a great fitness and agility routine that is sport specific to the game of basketball. It’s a tough workout but the kids have a lot of fun with it.
“As for the coaching ‘Chalk Talks’ we found there were some messages we couldn’t really get across within drills and stations and that we needed to take the time to sit the kids down and address topics like Sport Psychology, Fitness and Nutrition, Focused Skill Development and the importance of Sportsmanship. They went really well.”
Both camps included awards for Heart & Hustle, Most Valuable Player, Most Improved Player and three Camp All-stars. In the Junior camp the award winners were Sanne Lansing (MVP), Lee Holt (Heart & Hustle), Erik Olson (Most Improved) and Talon Marshall, Matt Herman and Jake St. Jean (All-Stars). In the Elite camp the award winners were Gavin Pittman (MVP), Alex Hovdebo (Heart & Hustle), Paula Wade (Most Improved) and Melissa Demille, Chalene Kuefler and Zach Thomson (All Stars).
For Badlands Basketball this marks their 6th year of basketball camps in Drumheller, and Pidhaichuk and McLean have been a part of all of them.
“It is nice to come back to Drumheller each year. I miss the kids, and all the friends I made during my time here. It is always our hardest working camp, and I am pleasantly surprised by how much better each year’s campers get. It is a testament to all the hard work the coaches at Greentree, DCHS and St. Anthony’s put in with these kids. We will be back next summer for year number seven and we again will try to bring a few new ideas and experiences for the kids”, McLean said.
Up next for Badlands Basketball will be the mini-ball at Greentree school, and information about registration will be available in September.
