For over twenty years now, a camp in Barrie has been teaching kids basketball fundamentals but Thunderhoops feels more important this year than ever before.
They’re calling it the northern uprising – basketball. The sport is booming in our country with more kids picking up the sport than ever before.
“It’s not like other sports where they stop and start all the time – basketball you play for a long time and go, go, go,” says camp participant Dylan Cullen.
“Let’s not kid ourselves; kids are way better, more talented than they were 20 years ago when we started this. They’re more athletic, their skills far more advanced,” says Thunderhoops Co-Director Paul Hopper.
For Hopper and Marty McCrone – the name of the game is building a hoops community north of Toronto by putting fun back into fundamentals.
“It’s really important to learn how to learn that stuff – to pass and shoot and to score…it’s so fun,” says Thunderhoops coach Rachel Piggot.
Most of the kids want to play high school ball in a few years while some are shooting for the pros. Zach Hartman says he’d love to play guard for the Raptors.
“It’s really good the Raptors are winning now, they’re showing hopefully other sports teams in Toronto how win – like the Maple Leafs.”
“I think it’s a great thing, basketball is growing and it’s giving more teams and more opportunities,” says camp participant Lucy McNiven.
More than 500 kids will take part in the camp and learn important skills over the next two weeks.
