By Henry Luzzatto

Correspondent

A basketball camp at Lakeland High School will give students a chance to hone their skills before the season begins.

Lakeland basketball coach Clint Wright will hold a basketball skills camp from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on July 26-29. At the camp, which costs $40 to attend, athletes of various ages will use drills to practice fundamentals.

“A lot of coaches have talked about how putting in work in the gymnasium is the best way to get better,” Wright said. “It’s all about doing their skills and fundamentals the right way.”

Wright’s camp usually features both boys and girls. Participants range from third grade to 11th grade. He said the diverse nature of the group makes it difficult for him to pit players against each other in typical five-on-five games. Instead, he said, all ages work together to complete drills.

“We make it so they’re not competing against each other,” Wright said. “They’re competing against the drill.”

The first half of the camp will teach offensive techniques, and the second half will focus on defense.

Tony Smith, the assistant coach at Lakeland and Wright’s partner at the camp, said the goal is to make the students into better players.

“Some players don’t know the right way to shoot the ball or box someone out,” he said. “We’re trying to develop those skills at this camp.”

Wright said his camp caters to a variety of different skill and experience levels. Inexperienced players will have a chance to get serious about the sport, and experienced players will be able to sharpen their skills.

“We’ll help some players find out whether they really want to play basketball,” Wright said. “Other players will be working on polishing their skill sets and getting to their best condition.”

Wright has run the summer camp for the past four years. During that time, he has coached several successful varsity and junior varsity players.

He said many of the players that attend the camp are high school players looking for a new way to get better.

“We’ve had a lot of successful players,” he said. “But we don’t want to take credit. We just try to get them working hard on their game.”

So far, 18 players have registered for the camp, but there is still time for more to sign up.

Though the camp centers on the physical skills of the game, Smith said the most important thing they teach at the camp is how to have a good attitude.

“We always teach attitude,” Smith said. “We teach the kids to encourage one another, even if they make a mistake.”

Wright said the ultimate goal is to help players reach their potential.

“If you’re not where you think you should be, we’ll get you over the hump,” he said.

Register by contacting Wright at 237-5797 or emailing him at clintwrightsr@gmail.com.