A record number of participants turned out for the morning session of the 2016 Peebles Indians basketball camp.
A record number of participants turned out for the morning session of the 2016 Peebles Indians basketball camp.

Story and photos by Mark Carpenter –

The last week of May saw the gymnasium at Peebles High School full of action as the Indians varsity basketball program hosted their annual basketball camps. The morning session of the camp featured boys and girls from second through sixth grades, while the afternoon session of the four-day camp featured seventh and eighth grade boys.
“Our numbers were just amazing, 60 plus kids,” said Peebles boys varsity coach Josh Arey. “The kids have a great time, they come out and get to play a lot of games. We work on a lot of fundamental things and they look forward to this week every year. I joke with them and tell them it’s four days of Christmas.”
“I think this is the largest number of kids we’ve ever had for one camp and to these young kids, the high school kids here are their LeBron James and Steph Curry. so for them to be in here and the kids to get to see them and interact with them, it builds upon itself. One day those kids will be in here and that’s how you build a program.”
One of the Peebles high school athletes who helped with the camp was junior-to-be Bostin Robinson.

Here are the participants in the afternoon session of the 2016 Peebles Indians Basketball Camp.
Here are the participants in the afternoon session of the 2016 Peebles Indians Basketball Camp.

“It’s good to teach these kids the basic fundamentals and watch them have fun,” said Robinson. “We just have to set good examples for them and show them the right things and how to act.”
Senior-to-be Aubrey McFarland also was one of the high school athletes who assisted at the 2016 camp.
“I like helping out because I know these kids look up to us,” said McFarland. “It’s just a fun time to get out here and play. It puts some pressure on us to know these kids look up to us all the time.”
One of the campers in the morning session was sixth grader Darby Mills. “I like coming to camp because it’s fun competition and we get to play with the kids we see at school all year but don’t see during the summer,” said Mills. “I have gotten a lot better at ball handling and things like that.”
There were 21 junior high boys participating in the afternoon session of the Indians’ camp.