Pilot Point Independent School District recently hosted a girls basketball camp for area youth grades third-ninth under the guidance of Pilot Point High School’s new girls athletic coordinator and head girls basketball coach Rachel Maxwell on June 2224.
The event was hosted at Pilot Point High School gymnasium, where Maxwell and assistant coaches Hannah Thompson and Shawn Vincent led the participants through various drills to sharpen their skills on the court.
“It was wonderful,” Maxwell said. “Everyone learned a lot, and we had great energy every day, and they were so fun to work with. We mainly worked on the basics, from a simple layup to passing and shooting form and defense—all aspects of the game. We really wanted to teach the building blocks of basketball.”
Maxwell and her staff guided the camp’s 25 participants through drills that improved their dribbling, defense, passing, jump shooting and finishing at the rim during the three-day event, culminating in multiple five-on-five games divided by age groups.
Middle schooler Savannah Olson spoke highly of her time at the camp.
“My favorite thing about the camp was getting to know all the little kids here and hanging out with them, and one of the biggest things I liked learning about was shooting,' she said.
Former Bearcats all-district point guard Hunter Newman was on hand helping with the camp and shared his appreciation to be able to teach the game to the next generation of Pilot Point basketball.
“This is a great group of kids coming up, and my little brother and sister are here, and hopefully, they’re going to continue a little bit of a legacy here in Pilot Point,” he said. “But all these kids are special and have talent, and it's outstanding what these new coaches have already brought [here], and I think we have a bright future in basketball for this school.”
Maxwell emphasized that at the end of the event she hoped the campers enjoyed themselves.
“I’m hoping they learned to have fun and enjoy the game,” she said. “Sometimes we can get caught up in the plays and scoring points and everything, and I just wanted them to have fun with their friends while they were learning.”
Pilot Point ISD will resume its athletic summer camp schedule on Monday. For more information, see the Around Town section on Page 4A.
