It’s set to be the most wonderful time of the year for basketball enthusiasts, as the Red Jackets Premier Girls Basketball Club will be hosting a skills camp and a three-on-three league in the fall.
The skills camp – named Friday Night Lights – begins on Sept. 9, and places an emphasis on fundamentals.
“It’s a program that we run out of Menno Simons Christian School in Calgary during September and October where I try to get the players’ fundamentals and conditioning sharpened up in preparation for the school tryouts,” said Red Jackets president and coach Randy Peron. “Younger players play a lot of games from the school season to the club season, to provincials.
“They need time to spend on fundamentals so they are prepared as much as possible.”
The camp consists of five sessions each consisting of three hours, and girls who range from Grade 8 to Grade 12 are welcome to take part.
The cap for players is 40, and as it stands now, the quota is on its way to being met, with Peron expecting the rush to begin during the last two weeks before school.
“That’s when families start coming back from vacation so that’s crunch time,” he said.
The fee for the camp is $400 and comes with a reversible practice top for every player.
“We try to focus on European-style basketball here,” Peron said. “It’s a run and gun, push the ball up the court style that I follow a lot. The Canadian Womens National Team at the Olympics is a pure example of a European offence.”
Apart from the European angle, another factor that separates Peron’s camp from the rest of the pack is the man himself.
“I have a lot of experience at a very high level,” he said. “That helps get kids training they wouldn’t get elsewhere. We’re a little different than your standard camp.”
If that wasn’t all, the Red Jackets are also opening registration for Red Jacket 33, a three-on-three league, set for Sunday nights.
“Players can form their own teams of four or sign up as singles and we’ll place them,” Peron said. “It’s a 12-game schedule that goes until October, where we have the October Madness Double Elimination Championships to decide the winner.”
Fees for teams of four are $600, and single players are $150.
The league is again open to girls ranging grades eight to 12, with trophies and reversible game tops included.
“Three-on-three is really big throughout the world,” Peron said. “One of the benefits is all of the kids are going to get touches because of less people on the court.
“They are 10 to 12 minute games with an eight second shot clock, so there’s an emphasis on pushing the ball up the court and being aggressive going to the basket. It creates a very offensive mindset.”
The deadline for applications to both programs is the week of Sept. 9.
For more information, visit www.redjkt.wix.com/redjackets.
