Hoop dreams: Children get lots of instruction at Northside camp

Published 7:28 am Tuesday, June 17, 2025

By Jason O. Boyd

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YEATESVILLE, N.C. — Watching children bounce basketballs, run drills, pass and shoot. It’s not usually the sport you’d expect to see going on this time of year.

Baseball and softball typically take center stage in the sports world around here. However, Northside High School’s second basketball camp gave children aged 6-14 the chance to learn more about the game and showcase their skills with others who attended on June 11.

Last year was the first time the camp was held. With the success it created, this year’s camp was broken into two age groups. Down the line, Northside boys’ basketball coach Jared Adams is hopeful it can be separated further into multiple days with other activities added.

“This year, we broke it up into age groups,” Adams said. “So we could be a little more focused on some skill sets from a developmental standpoint in a game of basketball.

“It’s kind of hard to specialize. So that’s what we did, two times this year. And I’m hoping that we take this and it grows and then we break it down to multi-day camps. My goal next year is to increase numbers where we can do a two-day camp for age groups at varying times. And then eventually build it into a week-long camp with games that conclude the camp, where parents can come and watch their kids play after following the skills that they’ve been put through during the week.”

Northside girls’ basketball coach Michelle Leathers and the other assistant coaches worked with the children on foot drills, passing, dribbling and other fundamentals. There were also players from this past season’s teams who gave their time back by showcasing their talents and offering additional instruction.

It’s all done to help grow the skill level and love of the game for those who want to gain more knowledge and get better when they are in the back yard shooting around or playing in recreational leagues long before they decide to take the court at places like Northeast Elementary, Bath Elementary and even Northside.

“When you only have an hour of gym time, it’s kinda hard to work on some things,” Adams said. “But hopefully they’ve taken some skills that they’ve learned, they take them home, they work on them, they grow in the game. And then they improve their own skill set.”

Leathers said having all of the coaches on the floor with some of the current and past players gives everyone a chance to give back to the community. 

“Basically that you gotta have a lot of patience,” Leathers said about the instruction. “So, just teaching the basics of the game, the skills. Even though it ain’t gonna probably last, maybe a few seconds.

“We’re reaching them early. There aren’t a lot of camps going on. So we’ll start them early.”

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