The Anguilla Sports Foundation, founded by Anguillian national Eddie Thomas Kelly; and Special Events Producer, Danielle Frost, founder of a Frost child Production; are back inAnguillathis week for the second Annual Basketball camp.
The four-day event opened at Viceroy on Monday with a number of US coaches training one hundred and fifty Anguillian children in the fundamentals and disciplines of the sport.
The aim of the camp, which continued until Thursday, was to give the youth of the island another opportunity to participate in an active, healthy and educational experience through the basketball sport.
NBA Legend and future Hall of Fame sports professional, Gary Payton, hosted the camp with the assistance of Isaiah Thomas of the NBA Sacramento Kings, Derrick Morgan of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans and former NFL Arizona Cardinal, Chris Vincent.
Kelly, who is working and residing inNew York, was one of the key organisers of the camp. “We are going to have four days of instruction and four days of fun. We are going to make it better this year than it was last year,” he told the children, at the opening ceremony, as they dressed in the various colourful jerseys provided by Nike, a major sportswear supplier in theUnited States.
Payton, a nine-time NBA All Star and a nine-time All NBA Team member, said in part: “This is a great opportunity to give the youth of the island the chance to learn the sport of basketball, as well as what it takes to be successful on and off the court…We have a great group of children here. We are going to teach them skills and they are going to have a different aspect about basketball. That’s what we come here every year for. We want them to learn and understand the game, and it is basically about life. Everybody is not going to make it in basketball, but we are going to teach them something else.
“We want them to be respectful, to have a lot of respect for each other and how to be gentle and win. We have a lot of different formats, this year, and it is going to be great…My motivation to work with them is because they don’t have the opportunity….It has a lot of great talent here that can make it in the United States, but we have to bring it to somebody’s attention on Twitter and Facebook by having camps like this. In four days you can do it. That’s why we are going to do drills and a lot of basketball. Last year I had a greater response. Some of the children didn’t even know how to do basic drills. By the time the camp was over, they were all doing great.”
Parliamentary Secretary, Hadyn Hughes, was grateful to Eddie Kelly, a long-time friend. “It is good to see that he has been quite successful in theUnited Statesand giving back to the Anguillian community which is foremost,” he stated. “I would also like to thank Gary Payton and Isaiah Thomas for coming toAnguillaand lending their time, so freely, to give our children life skills and to develop our youngsters in particular into positive role models.
“These are the type of opportunities that will give our children a chance to make it in basketball and in universities in theUnited Statesor, if not, even on the stage of life. We are happy to have 150 young men and women here today in this programme. We are also happy that Viceroy, Jeff David and his team have made available the use of their facility for this camp.”
Mr. Hughes added that the camp would be a good learning experience for the children and that already, on the first day, Mr. Payton had instilled a lot of discipline in terms of dress, sportsmanship and punctuality.
Several local coaches were on hand to support and assist Mr. Payton and his guests in providing the fundamentals of the game, and in conducting an open forum. The forum provided an opportunity for the children to look at life on and off the basketball court as well as how individual actions could impact the team, family and the community on a whole.
Participants were required to register in advance for the camp in order to participate. It was arranged for each to receive camp participation certification, autographs, achievement awards and an experience to cherish for a lifetime.
Since its inception, the goal of the Anguilla Sports Foundation, a registered organisation under the Anguilla Foundations Act 2008, and Eddie Kelly, have developed on-going opportunities for Anguillian youth through sports.
Danielle Frost was delighted that Nike had come on board, this year, based on the company’s relationship with Payton, by providing uniforms and equipment for the camp. “With companies like National Securities, Nike, Viceroy Anguilla and the support of so many willing former and current professional athletes, we are looking for the camp’s continued success and growth in the years to come,” she added.
