From 8th – 12th August 2016 over 70 children and youth took part in the Annual Joe Farroba Basketball Camp which has been running every August since 2012, with its largest number of basketball campers this year. This camp is the brainchild of Coach Joe Farroba (who has over 40 years of basketball coaching experience and is the Head Coach at Bridgewater State University, Boston, USA) and is geared toward boys and girls aged between 7 – 18 years who desire fundamentals skills of the game of basketball in a fun and engaging atmosphere.
Hosted by the Department of Sports, and held at the JC Recreational Centre, the camp brought together youth from throughout Anguilla for 3 hours of instruction each day during an intensive week, with basketball drills run by Coach Joe Farroba, ably assisted by his team of coaches. This year saw the return of 4 visiting coaches, in addition to Coach Farroba – Don Byron (Head Coach at Oliver Ames High School), Brian Ferris (Assistant Coach Bridgewater State University), Dave Barrett and Mike Byron – who all volunteer their time and pay their own way to come to Anguilla and have developed bonds with the children that return year after year. Also returning this year were local coaches; Delano Mussington, Ian “Tucker” Connor and Lisimba Price who have all been with the camp since its inception. New to the coaching team this year was Rick Browne.
Below is a summary of the statistics for this year’s camp and photos of the action during the week. This year there were 30 new campers, which comprised 42% of the total, and 58% were returnees. Of those in attendance, 10% were female and 14% received sponsorship to attend. The Joe Farroba Basketball Camp continues to foster harmony and inclusion by encouraging youth from different villages to interact and cooperate with each other.
One of the highlights of the camp was a visit from Anguillian Recording Artist and former West Indies cricketer Omari Banks who spoke about the importance of following your dreams and being focused. This year at the end of the week there was a brief ceremony to show appreciation to the coaches. Here are a few quotes from the campers when asked what they learnt or enjoyed about the camp:
• “How to co-operate with others”;
• “Having great attitude and effort can take you a long way”
• “I enjoy [the] time and effort the coaches give us”;
• “I learnt how to improve my skills and learnt more about the game”;
• “I would like to come back next year”!
The camp was addressed by Director of Sports (Ag) – Mr. Rollins Richardson and President of the Anguilla Amateur Basketball Association – Ms. Pam Riley. Each camper that attended for the whole week received a certificate, a basketball and a reversible basketball jersey.
As always, special thanks to the Organizers and Sponsors without whom the camp would not have been a success:
Government of Anguilla – Department of Sports, Coach Joe Farroba, Mark Silva, Ben Perez,
Louis Price & Associates, Nathalie Lesenechal, JC Recreational Centre, Straw Hat Restaurant, Veya Restaurant, E’s Oven, Cap Juluca, Simone Patterson and Splash Villa, Dad’s Restaurant, Rawlee’s Food Van, Jewel Art, and Sandy Island.
Thank you to the parents for allowing your children to attend and we look forward to your support again next year.
For further information about basketball and other sporting activities please contact the Department of Sports at sports@gov.ai or www.facebook.com/DepartmentofSports. To learn more about the JC Recreational Centre or how you can become a partner of the Annual Joe Farroba Basketball camp please visit our website at www.jcrecreationalcentre.org or email jcrecreationalcentre@gmail.com.
Contributed by the JC Recreational Centre
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
