NEW ORLEANS – Ballers are coming together for their summer camp! The 6th annual Essence of Sports Clinic came to a local high school for three days this week to perfect and educate sports skills.
The goal is to encourage kids to dream big and win in life. It also gives them something fun to do!
Basketball skills are getting sharp! The three day camp teaches basketball drills, discipline, and exercise. Brandon Okpalobi is the founder also a basketball coach. He says providing a free camp in his hometown is important to him.
“I just feel like kids need an opportunity. so if you have a free camp, you get a shirt, you get to play basketball, you get to build a boast with stem nola– it’s really a win-win so we really didn’t wanna have anything that would stop kids from being able to attend.”
About 40 kids are here this morning to perfect their their basketball game.
Now, the kids say, second by second, their skills are improving. Lester Arnaud is just one of the camp’s proteges. “I’m really excited knowing that majority of the week I can do something that i really love to do and get better at it as i’m doing it” Lester told WGNO.
The point guard also tells us, he’s learning things to set him apart from the rest.
“We worked on cross overs and how to keep it in your body cause you don’t want nobody to rip you or anything. so really just things like that.”
Brandon says, other camps are usually closed this week, which was the perfect time for his to be open. “To make sure that we could get the maximum amount of kids. But then to also to make sure we can expose them through different things that we do. So, we just wanna continue to help kids the best way that we know how.”
The camp is free and welcomed boys and girls, ages 7 through 16. It lasts until tomorrow. Camp hours are 9AM to 12PM.