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The future Panthers of the Pelham area got to meet their favorite players and develop their basketball skills at the Pelham Basketball Camp from June 24-26. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By TYLER RALEY | Special to the Reporter

PELHAM – Pelham High School hosted an eventful week for kids in the community as the boys and girls basketball programs hosted their annual Pelham Basketball Camp from June 24-26.

The around 170 campers who attended the festivities got the chance to learn and improve their game fundamentals and skills each day before applying them in fun and games at the end. They also got to make special memories as well while being taught by the Pelham coaches and players.

The energy and excitement for the camp was higher than it ever has been, and for Pelham head boys basketball coach Greg Dickinson, that means a lot.

“The excitement is out the roof,” Dickinson said. “From the time they get here all the way to the time they end, it’s structured down. They never have a dull moment, they never have a down time. When they leave here, they’re dog tired, they just want to sleep.”

Each morning of the camp featured a session where the kids worked on defensive skills before moving on to another session that was more focused on the ball-handling and shooting aspects of the game.

At the end of each day, they were provided the opportunity to show off those skills in various games of five-on-five, three-on-three, one-on-one and even the camp favorite, Beat the Pro, where campers attempted to score on a varsity player from Dickinson’s squad.

With the players getting to be the one to help coach and interact with the kids each day, Dickinson views it as a special opportunity for his players to develop these kids and see what he does each day during the season.

“Hopefully they can see what we go through with them,” Dickinson said. “I love watching the passion on their face as they’re coaching their kids up when they win games, I like to see the disappointment when they lose. I like to see our players encouraging those guys because some of the younger guys, sometimes they don’t take losing as good as they should, they might cry. It’s good to see that our older guys are lifting them up.”

As the camp continues to push out high attendance numbers every year, Dickinson hopes that it will yield positive things for the future of Pelham basketball. He sees this as a chance to showcase the program’s culture and how things are done at the high school level.

“I’m expecting it to continue to grow,” Dickinson said. “I’m expecting for other people that are trying to decide when they’re buying homes that they can say, ‘Hey, this is a great program for our kid to come play for.’ We do things the right way over here, we build those relationships. I’m expecting each year our numbers to grow.”

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