Sunday, September 17, 2023

Basketball: Basketball Camping Out in Spain

My former player Cecilia Kay is a Boston Herald "Dream Teamer" and commit to American University (2024). She is also an academic heavyweight who may be the next valedictorian at Bishop Fenwick High School. She recently attended a basketball camp in Spain. Here are some of her thoughts. 

RS: Recently you attended a hoop camp in Spain. How did that idea arise?

CK: The idea arose from the father of one of the girls on my club team. She’s from San Sebastián in Basque Country, and her father is involved with one of the club teams out there, EASO. Every year they have a preseason camp, and six of us from my club team decided to go.  

RS: How would you compare with camp in the US?

CK: Camp was similar in most aspects basketball wise. We would have two workouts a day with some lifting/yoga filtered in. Some days we would have stations focused on position play, and others we would be split up by teams and we would practice with our teammates. One major difference that we all noticed was that in Spain they have a “zero step”, which was basically a third step when going up for layups, so that took getting used to for us American girls because when we would play 5v5, it seemed like they were traveling but it’s legal where they play. We stayed in dorms and in between workouts we would go to the pool, play cards, hang out with the girls, etc.

RS: Were there any language issues encountered?

CK: There was definitely a language barrier, but we were still able to communicate effectively. Basketball is pretty universal, and most of the drills were some that we had done before in the US. Most of the coaches spoke at least some English, but our main coach didn’t speak any at all. However, some of us spoke a little, very basic Spanish, and he was extremely helpful in that he would speak slowly, simply, and use hand gestures so that we could understand. The other girls had a fun time teaching us some Spanish and Basque words and we had fun teaching them some American words and slang. 

RS: Were rules differences important? 

CK: The “zero step” I mentioned earlier took time getting used to; for example, at the beginning I would go up to block a shot, but my timing would be off since they had that extra step that we don’t get in the US. 

RS: Did you find any difference in the quality of the fundamentals of players your age? 

CK: The fundamentals of the players were pretty much equal. The specific club team we were working with didn’t have many bigs/taller people, but other than that things were very similar.

RS: What was the best part of the experience? 

CK: The best part of the experience was getting to work on my skills and learn a new culture in the process. The entire program was so welcoming and helpful, and we became friends with so many of the girls and guys. 

RS: Was there anything that you wish had run differently? 

CK: The camp was very well run, so I wouldn’t have changed anything except for the food. It was not typical Spanish food, more like cafeteria food, and the girls there told us that the food is bad every year haha!

RS: Are you in contact with any of the players you met?  

CK: We exchanged contacts and social media with many of them. We all wanted to stay updated on each others lives and keep in touch!

Lagniappe. 

Lagniappe 2. EDIRx5 

Lagniappe 3. We know Ryan Pannone is one of the rising stars in coaching. 


 

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