Eagles’ summer basketball camp great opportunity to make friends, learn skills

Windham varsity senior and volunteer JC Chouinard teaches
basketball skills to students during the Eagles' summer
basketball camp on Wednesday, July 27 at Windham
High School. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 

By Matt Pascarella

For as long as Windham varsity boys’ basketball coach Chad Pulkkinen can remember, Windham basketball has had a summer camp, where younger kids can learn the skills of the game as well as meet new people, who could one day be their teammates.

Pulkkinen has been running the camp for six years and next winter will begin his eighth year as the head boys’ basketball varsity coach. He’s had a tremendous response to his annual camp with almost 100 kids signing up.

Things are starting to come back to normal as far as kids’ camps go following the pandemic and Pulkkinen and his assistant coaches Geoff Grigsby and Noah Estey say that they were glad they could help the younger, aspiring players of the community out by hosting the K to 8 basketball camp at Windham High School during the last week of July.

“The No. 1 goal is to have fun,” said Pulkkinen. “It gives them an outlet to learn the game and have some fun.”

Every day of the camp there were themes like teammate, hustle, body language or coachability. Along with essential basketball skills, Pulkkinen and his coaches teach the kids the importance of being kind on the court and what it means to be a good teammate.

 

Basketball has given Pulkkinen a lot of life skills, so part of his goals for this camp is to teach life skills to the future group of varsity players.

“Overall basketball has been a tool for me to apply in all that I do,” said Pulkkinen. “Commitment, dedication, discipline, how to handle adversity, how to be a good teammate. It's shown me when you work hard at something and put the time in it pays off. You get what you put in.”

Players from freshmen to seniors volunteered their time and set a good example for the young athletes and participants appreciated the new skills they worked on at the camp.

“I’ve learned new ways to dribble and new ways to throw,” said Windham fifth-grader Kingston Mack.

Mack’s goal is to make over 1,000 shots in his lifetime.

Windham senior and varsity player JC Chouinard remembered attending this camp himself when he was much younger and how he looked up to high school varsity players.

“It’s pretty cool it’s come full circle now that I’m a senior here,” said Chouinard.

Chouinard has volunteered at the camp for the last four years and likes that it brings the community together. He likes seeing the younger kids learn the game.

Basketball has helped Chouinard out a lot in his life, so if he can use basketball to help another young athlete, that means a lot to him.

Chouinard said that his goal during the week was to have the kids remember the camp and the fun they had, skills they improved upon and new friends that they made.

Windham second-grader William Hanf had been working on making baskets and drills during the Eagles’ Basketball camp. He said he wanted to become better at playing basketball and has been having fun learning new skills and meeting new people.

“I just think it helps everybody come together and get to know each other. The camp shows you how to be a good teammate. And that really goes beyond the court in everyday life,” said Chouinard. <