Arey, staff hold annual Youth Basketball Camp – 

Story and photos by Mark Carpenter – 

For any high school sports program, one of the keys to success is to keep the youth of the school system enthused about their particular sport. Nowhere is that concept more evident than with the Peebles Indians boys basketball program. It is no secret of the passion for basketball in Peebles and for four days in late May, Coach Josh Arey and his staff kept the fires burning with their annual Youth Basketball Camp.
In past years, the Peebles basketball camps have been a bit chaotic as the girls and boys staffs combined to put on just one camp, but this year things changed as the two separated into a pair of smaller camps which worked out well for both groups.
Coach Arey’s 2017 camp for second through sixth graders ran from May 22-25 and as is usually the case with the young players, teaching fundamentals was the main objective, with a few more advanced activities such as the three-man weave and numerous ball-handling drills. The campers spent time each day at different stations working on shooting, defense, rebounding, and passing, all of the youngsters showing great enthusiasm at each stop.

High schoolers Conner Browning and Wade Shiveley work with campers on shooting form at the recent Peebles Youth Basketball Camp.

The camp also featured a number of competitions such as Hot Shots and Free Throw contests.
“These camps are important for our program because these are the kids that are coming up,” said Coach Arey. “They get to see the coaching staff and it’s important for our high school players because they get to make connections with the younger kids. As our season goes on, we see a lot of these kids at our games and they have that connection with our players. That’s how you feed your program-those younger kids wanting to be where those older kids are at.”
“We just try to stress fundamentals with the younger kids and the older ones get a little more emphasis on certain things at their stations. This is the age where it starts and you start to plant those seeds in them at a young age and hopefully they grow.”
As Coach Arey mentioned, the assistance of his high school athletes is an integral part of the camp, and one of those on hand this year was senior-to-be Bostin Robinson.
“I just enjoy watching these kids have fun and knowing that they are learning the right stuff,” said Robinson. “You can see that the kids are getting better as the camp goes on but the important thing is still that they are having fun.
Besides Robinson, the high school athletes on hand for the camp included: Tanner Arey, Conner Browning, Blake Hawes, Blake Smalley, Wade Shiveley, Weston Browning, Gage Crothers, Alex Camp, Colin Neal, Dylan Shulaw, Luke Rigdon, Kyle Lightner, Oakley Burba, Dawson Mills, Chase Meade, Easton Wesley, Hunter White, and Brennan Kyle.
Campers for the week included: Hayden Countryman, Jay Jenkins, Waylon Lloyd, Gage Grooms, Flint Garrison, Colt Johnson, Peyton Johnston, Garret Shiveley, Hayden Browning, Carson Reed, Landon Storer, Carson Puckett, Stacy Blevins, Brayden Davis, Matthew Parker, Brody Smith, Grady Myers, Colyn Sims,
Nash Grooms, Paxton Ryan, Dylon Purtee, Grady Knechtly, Drew McFarland, Conner Gross, Gage Daniels, Christian McDonald, Leeland Rideout, Carson Blevins, Braylon Stephens, Asa Minton, Ethan Chamblin, Kole Henderson, Tanner Bennington, Malachi Riley, Cooper Meade, Bo Johnson, Lucas Krieger, and Liam Farrahay.