SWA holds 10th annual basketball camp
Published 6:59 am Wednesday, June 22, 2016
The Sports Work Academy Basketball Camp reached a milestone Saturday, as the group held its 10th annual clinic at the YMCA on Avenue B.
“We feel real good about it,” co-camp director Michael Galloway said. “I just think it’s a culmination of a lot of hard work and a lot of people focused on one goal and a common goal of giving back to the kids of Bogalusa. We’re pleased to be where we’re at right now.”
Galloway, a 1985 Bogalusa High School graduate, is the camp’s co-director along with former LSU and Portland Trail Blazers basketball player Nikita Wilson.
One of the coaches this year was 2012 SWA camp MVP Ereyanna Magee, who is currently a sophomore basketball player for Prairie View A&M. She attended Oak Grove High School and played basketball there.
“I really enjoyed it,” Magee said. “When I came here (as a camper in 2012), I was nervous and the only girl, so I was nervous being the only girl, but I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed it.”
Magee said she really enjoys helping out at the camp.
“I love the kids. I love helping them and teaching them the fundamentals of basketball,” Magee said.
Dillard head basketball coach Mike Newell also came by the clinic. Newell spoke to the participants for a few minutes. He then demonstrated a basketball move, taking them through the different keys to how to make it work and then he showed them the way to counter it.
“I love it (going to basketball camps),” Newell said.
Newell hosts six one-week camps for boys and girls ages 7-18. The remaining sessions are June 27-July 1 (4-6 p.m.), July 11-15 (4-6 p.m.), July 18-22 (noon-2 p.m.) and July 18-22 (5-7 p.m.).
After the SWA Camp, Newell was heading to another camp that day.
“I’m out quite often at these camps,” Newell said.
Newell, who has more than 350 wins as a college head coach, has taken four different schools to the NCAA and NAIA National Tournaments, including the University of Oklahoma, University of Arkansas-Little Rock, University of Arkansas-Monticello and Dillard University.
This year’s camp featured 34 campers, who came from Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida.
Galloway said they went through drills that feature the different components of the game.
“The game has several components to it and we want to make sure we cover all aspects of the game, the dribbling, the passing, the scoring, all elements of where you can score the basketball on the court, working in different quadrants and defense. We run them through a pretty complex drill program,” Galloway said.
Also working with the camp were 1981 Bogalusa High School graduate Murrell Galloway, former Lutcher High School and Southern University basketball player Darren Gaines and Varnado High School graduate Kenneth Ishman.