Game 7 Basketball Camp Returns to RVC

Female athletes from more than 20 towns in Long Island traveled to the John A. Anderson Recreation Center on Monday for the 13^th annual Game 7 Basketball Camp.

Widely considered one of the premier all-girl basketball camps, more than 60 girls came to learn from an impressive group of instructors, which featured an all-star array of high school and college players and coaches.

The six-hour camp is grueling and rigidly structured. After stretching and a team meeting, the girls rotated among five stations that each taught a variety of skills, ranging from post moves, conditioning and toughness, to shooting and dribbling with their weaker hand. 

George Moore, an assistant coach at Nassau Community College, taught the toughness drill, in which he held up a pad that the girls had to bounce into before putting up a shot or a lay-up.

"My main thing is to just teach them to be tough on and off the court," he said. "It's cool to be dainty, but in between the lines you have to be tough."

Maggie Rogers, a ninth grader from Garden City, said she knew she could sharpen her game by attending the camp.

"The instructors are amazing, they're really nice and patient when you don't do something right," she said. "They really have a stacked group here – everyone either plays or coaches at a high level. This is a good way to get ready for high school and to brush off the rust."

At the end of the day, most of the girls appeared happy to make new friends and compete against stronger competition. Many of the campers are transitioning to high school sports, and the Game 7 camp offered an opportunity to make new friends off the court as well as learn important skills on it.

Angela Bond, a trainer for the camp who was sidelined by an Achilles injury, was on hand to watch her sixth grade daughter, Erin, learn at the camp.

"This camp brings a sense of community and commitment to the sport and the children," she said. "It teaches them that there are more people than just her and her community. I want her to learn that there's a whole world of people out there for her to meet."