Camp highlights bright future for local hoops

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 10 August 2017

Daniel Augustine has been coaching youth basketball for 21 years in the Cayman Islands. So, he’s perfectly poised assess the development of the sport locally.

Sitting on the sidelines during the recent Department of Sports Summer Basketball Camp, Augustine told CaymanSportsBuzz.com he was pleased with what he was seeing on the court.

“Once these kids and their parents commit to keeping them involved, I think the future for basketball is looking really bright,” said the camp director.

The week-long camp attracted a full house of more than 100 boys and girls to the Arts and Recreation Centre at Camana Bay from 31 July to 4 August. They were split into two groups, with younger players participating in the morning session and the older ones coming in the afternoon.

The players were put through a variety of drills each day, focusing mainly on dribbling, passing, shooting, defense, speed and agility.

A camper puts up a shot during a scrimmage.

Augustine said like in other recent editions, the youngsters turn up eager to learn and play each day.

“Over the years, what I have been seeing is a lot of the kids that have been playing basketball in primary school from Years 4 to 6 have found a consistency when it comes to participating in the camps each year,” the coach said.

“I’ve seen some regular faces and I’ve also seen a huge skill development over the last couple of years.”

On hand to assist Augustine and fellow coach Redever Ebanks were nine assistant coaches, including young players, some of whom returned home for the summer from studying and playing basketball overseas.

“We have some young and upcoming players who are assistant coaches for the week…they have been doing a phenomenal job in keeping the kids engaged in whatever drills they have been doing throughout the week. I think the kids are having a whole bunch of fun,” Augustine said.

The camp was one of several hosted by the Department of Sports during the school summer break. Other camps focused on cricket, football, netball and swimming.