July 27, 2018 at 4:23 p.m.
Hodag Hoops camp puts a wrap on summer basketball
Hodag Hoops camp puts a wrap on summer basketball
With the start of football right around the corner, many prep teams are winding down their offseason programs, including the RHS boys' basketball team, which devoted this past week to its future during its annual Hodag Hoops Camp.
The camp, for players entering grades 3-9, is one last fling with basketball before the fall begins, according to RHS boys' basketball coach Derek Lemmens.
"(We do) some skill work then a lot of competing, a lot of playing and just getting kids to get a basketball in their hands and compete a little bit before the summer ends and football begins," he said. "We kind of bring that final opportunity to all get together and play basketball. We're hoping with this that the kids had so much fun they continue thinking about basketball, so that when winter comes they're ready to go."
Lemmens said numbers for this year's camp were slightly down from years past, mainly due to a dip in out-of-town participation. That means virtually all of the campers in the four-day camp are potential varsity basketball players several years down the road.
"This is the future," he said. "This is starting to create that culture within our program where kids just continue want to play basketball, continue to enjoy it and work at it."
As for the 2018-19 Hodags, their summer program was like in years past. That included a number of camps and open gym sessions, participation in the UW-Marathon league and a few weekend tournaments.
The Hodags went 20-3 last season and won the Great Northern Conference title, but there will be plenty of roles to fill in a lineup that graduated three starters and five players overall from its rotation.
"It really has made us aware of some flaws that we have and some things we're going to have to work on moving forward," Lemmens said of the summer program. "We're going to have some kids stepping into new roles. I think we're going to have to play a little differently than we have the last few years. I'm looking forward to the challenge. I think the pieces are there. We just have to get those pieces to work together the right way.
"We had some pretty good commitment from a chunk of kids be we had a lot of kids that weren't in the gym. Hopefully, they find some time between now and season to get to open gyms, get some skill work in. We're going to be replacing a lot of pieces and it would be comforting to know that we're ready for that."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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