Getting to meet an NBA player in real life is a rare opportunity, but playing basketball with him for a week is pretty much unheard of. Yet that’s exactly the once-in-a-lifetime chance more than 100 young athletes were treated to last week, as part of the Tobias Harris Basketball and Life Skills Workshop.
Held by the Orlando Magic forward, Harris taught young athletes not only basketball, but invaluable life skills at the five-day clinic at the “Yes We Can” Center in Westbury.
“The kids are the next generation, so the way I look at is you have to hone the kids into what they can be,” said Harris, a former Islip resident and Half Hollow Hills graduate. “There’s too many kids out there who aren’t fulfilling their potential, so the camp is a great time to use the sport of basketball to teach them that.”
While the majority of students came from Westbury and New Cassel, they were joined by their peers from surrounding areas including Jericho and Freeport. Middle and high school-aged athletes spent their days running basketball drills to improve their skills, playing games and learning more about the sport.
“I learned more about defense through the clinic,” said Nashawn Grafton from Westbury. “It feels great because you get to learn what they learn in the NBA and he teaches us defense and training.”
The chance to play with a professional NBA player is what drew Jericho’s Gordon Wong to the clinic.
“I signed up because I really wanted to meet Tobias Harris. I never thought I’d get to play with him,” Wong said. “I’ve learned how to work hard and play good defense, and I think I work harder now and am more serious than I was before.”
Maya Thomas from Freeport wanted to attend the clinic to learn more and become a better player.
“Guys play harder than girls so playing against them helps us with our strength,” she said. “If we can beat the guys, we can beat the girls easier.”
Harris took a hands-on approach to the clinic, running drills with the athletes and showing them how to improve their ball handling, shooting and defensive skills. He knew many of the players by name, joking around with them and giving them tips. Harris noted he felt it was important to bond with the kids.
“I’m not just a basketball player, I have a gift with kids and knowing how they feel,” Harris said. “Every kid here has a gift for being able to play basketball. I’m able to connect with these kids to show them they can achieve anything they want in this world.”
And for many of the athletes who attended, that goal includes making it into the NBA. However, Harris was straight-forward about letting the kids know that success doesn’t always mean being a professional athlete.
“I would be doing every kid here a disfavor if I told them they could all make the NBA. That percentage is super low,” Harris said. “I’m here to show the kids there are more options. I’ve met a lot of successful people who have never played sports and a lot of kids don’t know that. I’m here to show the kids that you have to be a good student, be a good person, be respectful, and hang around the right crowd.”
Helping instill these positive values into the athletes was Tobias’ dad, Torrel Harris. In addition to the basketball skills, the athletes attended a career assessment, classes on good health and nutrition, and learned character development. He said it was important to pour into the next generation, as that’s what other people did for him growing up and Tobias.
“When you’re blessed, you gotta give back,” Torrel said. “You gotta help other kids who are less fortunate and take what we’ve learned and give it back to them. We put encouragement and confidence in these kids and let them know that we care about them.”
This was the first time the Town of North Hempstead has held the clinic and Harris said he hopes it’s not the last.
“We’re happy to be here and we want to do this a bunch more,” he said. “People have to let these kids know they’re special and can do whatever they want. Some of these kids have never been told that, but that’s what they need to know every single day.”
