Indoor Summer Basketball ‘Fun’damentals For A Variety Of Ages

By Andy Hutchison

It may be summer, but there’s no wrong season for basketball right? But we’re not just talking about shooting around at the playground, or a good old driveway game of Horse. Full-fledged instruction, drills, and games at a variety of indoor summer camps have been taking place in Newtown throughout the summer weeks.

The town’s school gymnasiums, as well as the courts at Newtown Youth Academy, have been home to the thumping of dribbled balls, the swoosh of balls flowing through nets, the voices of coaches and instructors, and the interaction of players — girls and boys alike — ranging in age from 5 to 15.

Competitions, contests, stations with drills to hone specific skills from ball-handling to shooting and defense, and scrimmages are all part of the excitement at camps in Newtown, including the Slamma Jamma Basketball Camp, Murphy Basketball Camp, and Lady Nighthawk Basketball Camp. The latter, as the name suggests, is offered specifically to girls.

“I wanted to provide opportunities for some of the younger girls and women in Newtown to have their own camp,” said Jeremy O’Connell, the camp’s director, and girls’ varsity coach at Newtown High.

O’Connell points out that there are plenty of boys’ and co-ed camps in the area, but that all-girls basketball camps are hard to find. He added that the point of the first-year camp — a weeklong session at NHS in late July — is to get the younger girls in town to play and compete together outside of winter ball, and get a feel for what’s ahead as they get closer to high school.

“It also helps with the fact we have the members of the varsity basketball team to model for them as well,” added O’Connell, referring to his NHS players who served as camp counselors.

O’Connell was a guest coach at the Murphy camp over at NYA, working with Matt Murphy, who runs the camp along with his brother Mike Murphy. “We have the same philosophy and beliefs of what basketball should be like, and what camp should be like,” O’Connell said.

“Our philosophy’s always been to fun with the fundamentals. We want the kids to come to camp and have a good time and learn the game of basketball,” Matt Murphy added.

Murphy and O’Connell both got help from the NHS girls’ team members and coaching staff, including alum/ Nighthawk assistant Meg Kelley. The Murphy camp is offered for students entering into grades five through nine each fall.

The Slamma Jamma camp held sessions for ages 5–8 as well as for 7–14-year-olds. Dave Pelletier directed the younger group at Hawley School in the mornings, and noted that the instruction was centered around basic skills, such as shooting, dribbling, and defending, with emphasis on sportsmanship. “If there’s no sportsmanship, then we’re not doing our job,” Pelletier said.

Dean Accetura directed the Slamma Jamma 7–14s, during one session at Newtown High and another at Reed Intermediate. “We want the kids to come here and love the game of basketball, the skills required — ball-handling, passing, shooting, defense — and to learn it fundamentally, where they go home and practice on their own and become better basketball players,” Accetura said. “We also want to make sure they’re having fun, because if they’re not having fun they’re not going to want to play when they get home.”

In addition to the indoor camps is the annual Rising Star Summer Basketball League, a summerlong outdoor league directed by NHS boys’ coach John Quinn (look for coverage in upcoming issues of The Bee). The Murphy Basketball Camp will offer another session August 15–19.

For information visit murphy basketballcamp.com.