Bermuda Youth Impress At US Keystone Camp
The Bermuda Basketball Youth Federation [BBYF] completed a four day Skills Camp at the Keystone State Basketball Camp in Pennsylvania from July 19 to July 22, 2014, with many Bermuda players impressing their American counterparts with their solid play.
A spokesperson said, “Keystone has been ranked the number one basketball camp in the eastern United States and had the top players in grades 7-12 from over 300 schools from 16 states and 5 foreign countries, including Bermuda.
“Keystone boasts many notable alumni, including NBA players Derrick Rose, Richard Hamilton, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Jamal Crawford, Kobe Bryant, and John Wall, to name a few.
“Eight coaches accompanied 45 players from Bermuda who took part in a four day skills camp at Slippery Rock University, where they were able to experience the life of a student athlete including dormitory accommodations and walking about the University campus.
“The BBYF was founded by two former United States NCAA collegiate players, Charles Peters and Chris Crumpler, as a means of developing the game for the youth in Bermuda, beginning in 2011.
Coach Charles Peters said, “Three years ago we started with one team of twelve boys in our Under-12 age division and now we have over 100 girls and boys taking part in our domestic Wolfpack Basketball programme. This is a really big deal for Bermuda. The experience of university life is one that we hope will leave and imprint in the minds and hearts of the players.
“When I first moved to the island in 1999, I was told that Bermuda players would never be able to compete against elite players from the U.S. and it was thought that we should only take part in events against other small islands.
“With the focus on skills development that Chris Crumpler and I have imparted into local basketball, we can now say without any doubt that our youth are on par with the players from the United States and the rest of the world. We have at least one dozen prospects in our programmes who could eventually play college basketball in the United States, Canada, or United Kingdom.
“The results this year have exceeded all of the coaches’ expectations.”
“The results were indeed phenomenal. Seven of the traveling youth players were selected for Keystone’s classic Black and White All-Star Game. Caelin Peters impressed in the Youth Division with his play making abilities scoring nine points and dishing five assists in the all-star game.
“Malachi Dates, Rye Ahronson, Kumari Tannock, and Andy Perez were superb in the Junior Division, which held two all-star games. Raushon Tankard and Joshua Liyanage represented Bermuda in Scholastic Division, with Tankard scoring 13 points in the all-star game, and Liyanage leading his team all week in steals and three pointers leading to a nomination for Most Valuable Player in the division.
“The BBYF would like to thank our sponsors who have supported us this year, including XL Foundation, our primary sponsor, Ace Insurance, Arch Bermuda, Qatar Re, International Financial Planning, Apteche Granite & Marble, Guy Carpenter, Lancashire Bermuda, East End Telecom, Bermuda Commercial Bank Limited, and iDesignBermuda.
“For more information or to join the BBYF mailing list, please contact Coach Peters at info@bbyfbasketball.org.”
Well done, young guys. Work hard and study well, the sky’s the limit.
Well done also to the BBYF support staff for their efforts with the youth.
This is great! The local basketball programme is one of our islands best kept secrets. I have seen the positive influence on the youth by the coaches. Great work coaches and players!