San Antonio Spurs guard Danny Green teaches basketball basics
The aspiring young basketball players of Floral Park recently got the opportunity to learn from one of the best when professional basketball player Danny Green hosted the Team Green Basketball Academy at Floral Park Memorial High School from July 9-12.
The camp was open to children of all skill levels, ranging from ages 5-18. The camp fee was $250, which included T-shirts, lunch, drawstring backpacks, contest prizes, as well as the valuable skills taught in the class.
Currently a member of the San Antonio Spurs, Green grew up in North Babylon and attended St. Mary’s High School in Manhasset. He played college ball at the University of North Carolina before making it to the NBA and deciding to help aspiring players who grew up near where he learned the basics of the game.
“It’s really exciting to have an NBA star here for the kids,” said camp counselor Joe Lynch. “It’s a rare opportunity for kids to learn from one of the players that plays in the greatest league in the world.”
Lynch also helped Green choose the location for his basketball camp.
“It was suggested to do the camp here by Joe Lynch,” said Green. “We became good friends and I was looking for a site to promote my camps. This is our first year doing it and I think the turnout is pretty good.”
The camp is broken up into age brackets and stations. Members of the same age remain together in the same age bracket and learn skills needed to master basketball from different coaches.
“I’m really excited to host a camp in Floral Park and work with the kids of the Sewanhaka School District on improving their basketball game,” Green said. “I have friends in Floral Park and have had the pleasure of meeting a lot of people from the town, and know how great of a place it is. There have been tremendous basketball players to come out of Floral Park and I hope I will be able to provide each camper with the skills and knowledge of the game to transform them into the basketball stars of tomorrow.”
The first group of stations that the campers went through focused on speed, agility and strength. Throughout these drills, the coaches taught the campers, while also pushing them and screaming out comments like, “Push, push, push,” and “Nothing beats hard work.”
“We work really hard,” said 9-year-old camper Michael Rederseheid. “They work us really hard.”
After these run-throughs, the campers were allowed a five-minute water break. Some of the more dedicated campers decided to start picking up the basketballs to prepare for their next group of stations.
The campers now had the opportunity to practice four of the most essential parts of the game of basketball: ball handling, defense, shooting, and coming off of a screen.
“If you watch NBATV or ESPN, this is what they are doing to work out,” Coach Danny Green, Sr. told the campers. “This is what you need to do to get to the next level if that’s where you want to go.”
Although the campers appeared tired after the long workouts, most seemed to understand that their hard work would eventually pay off.
“It’s awesome to be taught by an NBA player,” said 11-year-old Sean Kilcarr. “It’s also good because he knows how to train us hard and make us better players.”
After a long week of running, push-ups, and basketball, campers were rewarded with the experience to learn from one of the best in the world. As long as they had a good time and learned a little more about the game of basketball, then the camp accomplished its goals.
“I just want the kids to have fun, learn something, and get better,” said Green. “They also get to interact with me and get autographs while we all help teach them the game of basketball.”
