Lady Catamounts teach basketball fundamentals to local youth

copyright the Chronicle October 15, 2014

by David Dudley

The University of Vermont’s (UVM) Lady Catamounts visited Lake Region Union High School Saturday to give a clinic on basketball fundamentals for children aged seven to 12.

When the Lady Catamounts arrived at the gym, there was already a handful of young players waiting. The clinic was taught by Kylie Atwood of Albany, Rachel Merrill, Gracia Hutson, Kylie Butler, Kristina White, and Assistant Coach Shannon Gholar.

While the Lady Catamounts come from far-flung places — New York, Arizona, Minnesota — it was a homecoming for Kylie Atwood, who graduated from Lake Region in 2012.

While at Lake Region, Ms. Atwood was a standout. She was named player of the year at Lake Region, in the 2010-2011 season. Upon graduation, she joined the ranks of the Lady Catamounts. She also took up a serious degree program in speech therapy. While she’s busy with her studies and practice, she looks forward to coming home every year.

“There’s nothing like coming back to this court,” Ms. Atwood said. “I love helping younger kids learn to love the game. It’s important for me to give back to my community.”

And it’s important for teachers to be passionate about the subjects they’re teaching. That may be why the kids really connected with the Lady Catamount players.

Anya Kennedy of Glover had taken refuge from all the intimidating activity — the jump shots, the intense defense, the loud voices of players communicating with one another. She hid behind her father’s leg. He tried to encourage her to join in on the fun, but she wasn’t convinced.

That is, until Ms. Hutson and Ms. White walked over and introduced themselves. After a brief exchange, they handed Anya the ball and invited her to come out onto the court. Once there, she began shooting from close range. Before long, she was making one out of every three shots she attempted. After another few moments, she made two consecutive shots. Ms. Hutson and Ms. White cheered loudly.

“Think you can make three in a row, Anya?” Ms. Hutson asked.

Anya nodded. She pulled the ball back and threw it toward the hoop. After bouncing around the rim, it rolled off to the side, missing. Anya hadn’t made the third shot, but she took up the ball, and began again. She hadn’t made three in a row, but she had learned a more important lesson: don’t give up.

Ms. Hutson and Ms. White stayed with Anya until Ms. Gholar called the clinic to order. After a brief introduction, the drills began. The kids began with a first-class warm-up. They practiced ball handling, defense, and running the court. One exercise, meant to increase agility, breath control, concentration, and no nonsense hustle, had all of the kids positioned on a grid. The Lady Catamounts took turns leading the group through a series of commands, which the kids had to repeat while performing the command.

“When I say loose ball, you dive,” Ms. Gholar said. “When I say charge, you fall. Got it?”

As each command was shouted, the children responded with enthusiasm. It looked like an intense, well choreographed dance.

Then it was Ms. Atwood’s turn to run the choreography.

“Defense,” she called out.

“Defense,” the kids responded, as they got low to the ground, raising their hands.

“Charge,” Ms. Atwood called.

“Charge,” the children repeated before flinging their bodies upon the court.

Ms. Atwood and her teammates were having fun, sharing their skills and routines with the kids.

And the kids? They were too distracted to be aware of the learning process taking place: they were busy smiling, laughing, and playing, as they went through a rigorous series of exercises designed to increase their physical and mental abilities.

“People watch women’s basketball because we are more fundamentally sound,” Ms. Gholar said. “It’s a different approach to the game.”

When coaches talk about fundamentals, they are referring to a series of skills necessary to the development of each player, like good form when shooting, focusing on foul shots, layups, passing and handling the ball, footwork, rebounding, defense, and making good decisions.

While NBA superstars draw attention for their awesome individual feats, women’s basketball is all about a sound strategic approach, and teamwork.

“This is a great opportunity for these young players to learn the fundamentals of basketball,” Ms. Gholar said. “We stress the importance of teamwork. It’s not one-against-five; it’s 40 minutes of five-against-five, and the only way to win is to get everybody involved.”

“This is the third year that UVM has visited Lake Region,” said Joe Houston, the girls varsity basketball coach at Lake Region. “The event gives the kids a great chance to work with a group of excellent players. They learn some new things.

“Other things that they might be learning from coaches, parents, and teammates are reinforced by these players, who compete at a national level.”

Mirroring the process that the Lady Catamounts practice — doing individual drills, and then learning to put them all together through playing the game — the children played a four-on-four scrimmage to round out the day’s work. They passed the ball often and communicated when playing defense. And, as is true of the sport, each individual brought their own special talents to their respective team.

Caleb Thaler of Glover showed impressive defensive prowess. Connor Ullrich ran the floor like a madman, often out-hustling his opponents. Ebony Cota and Robin Nelson showed a particular gift on the offensive end, each shooting well from the floor, keeping the ball moving, and making stops at the defensive end.

Still, Saturday’s event wasn’t all about basketball.

“It’s also a chance to reach out to these kids, and let them know that, if they do well in school, there are scholarships out there,” Ms. Gholar said. “All of the girls here today have earned full ride scholarships. They’re all outstanding students as well as basketball players.”

Ms. Gholar placed special emphasis on that last point. One of the key facets of a fundamentals-based approach is that it teaches players to be thorough in all aspects of the game.

“And we hope that shows in their lives, too,” Ms. Gholar added. “It’s important to know the game inside and out. We really focus on form, and routine. That’s how we, as a team, overcome obstacles. That’s what we’re trying to teach.”

contact David Dudley at [email protected]

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