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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – The Pelham Panthers did their part to keep the game of basketball growing in the Birmingham area with a big week at the Pelham Basketball Camp.

Pelham High School basketball teams coached a group of around 160 campers on the fundamentals of basketball from June 23-25 at the Pelham High School gymnasium.

“It went great,” Pelham head boys basketball coach Greg Dickinson said. “We had a good turnout as usual. Got a lot of kids in and developed and had a great time.”

Throughout the week, campers worked through a variety of drills to improve their skills, including a heavy focus on ball-handling along with dribbling, shooting and defense.

The campers also got to put their skills to the test in games against one another, including 1-on-1, 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 environments.

In addition, they were split off into teams throughout the week and competed against one another. The competition concluded on Wednesday with a winner-take-all tournament between the teams.

While Dickinson said the win-or-go-home nature of the tournament put a bit of a damper on the campers’ emotions, he enjoyed watching his players take control of the teams and coach up the campers throughout the week.

Each team had players from Pelham’s varsity and JV boys basketball program leading them as coaches, which allowed the players to teach the same basketball skills they learned from the Pelham coaching staff to the younger players and get a chance to step into their coaches’ shoes. Dickinson said the players brought a new element of competition to the teams and constantly found ways to outsmart and one-up each other in good fun.

In addition, the bonds with the campers went beyond basketball as Dickinson said the players and campers truly formed relationships over the three-day camp.

He said that the most rewarding part of the camp to him was watching those relationships flourish and seeing how the players carried themselves around the kids.

“I would say watching my players coach, coaching the younger ones and becoming big buddies to them,” Dickinson said. “Watching them interact with the younger guys was my favorite part.”

While the camp is just three days out of the 365-day year, Dickinson said weeks like this are crucial to the development of the Pelham High School basketball program. Not only does it give the players a chance to become leaders and serve their community, but it serves as a vital developmental tool in the future of the program.

The 160 campers who came throughout the week got to know the Pelham Panthers in a way that Dickinson said sticks with them and creates name recognition. He hopes that the camp gets them excited to play basketball themselves at Pelham High School.

However, it goes even deeper than that. Dickinson said those personal relationships created at camp often extend past the three days in the summer that they share a gym.

He said the players and campers recognize each other throughout the season and it gives the kids a chance to see the same players they learned from during the week out on the basketball court playing for the Panthers’ varsity and JV basketball programs.

“It’s very important,” Dickinson said. “It gives you a way to connect with the youth to get to them and for them to get to know you as well. Also, get them interested in coming to the games because now that they know the players, they have their connection with them. Now when they’re in the game, they can connect with them in the game, and we also let the younger guys come in for free when they come to the game, so it’s very important. They keep the program growing.”