By Mark Carpenter-
he popularity of the game of basketball cannot be questioned in this area, but for Rob Davis, long-time head coach of the North Adams Lady Devils, it is of utmost importance that his athletes know that there is more to life than sports. With that in mind, Coach Davis and his staff held their annual Youth Basketball Camp, but the final day of the camp had a little different twist.
About two-third of the way through the camp on Wednesday, June 12, Coach Davis blew the whistle and the 50 or so youth campers on hand proceeded to leave the gymnasium and the school premises entirely. As a large group, the campers and everyone else involved with the camp marched out of the building with another mission in mind. If you are familiar with the geography of Seaman, located within walking distance of North Adams High School are the North Adams Library, the Adams County Regional Medical Center, Church 180, and the Monarch Meadows Rehabilitation and Assisted Living Center. Those four sites were welcomed with young visitors on Wednesday afternoon as the campers took bags of candy and treats to all three places, enforcing Davis’s message of always “giving” back to the community.
The involvement of the basketball team in the community has always been an institution of the North Adams girls program and the idea for Wednesday’s visits stemmed from a similar visit last Christmas, the brainchild of Davis’s wife Jo.
“We always try to so something around the holidays and this past Christmas we went to Monarch Meadows and Jo came up with the idea of walking the girls over again this week,” said Coach Davis on Wednesday. “Every camper brought in a bag of candy and we bagged it up with a little note to ‘have a good day.’ When we visited at Christmas, it really opened the eyes of some of our older players and they really got close to some of the Monarch residents.”
“They see that when they are having a bad day, there are people who are having a worse time in life and that’s what I always try to tell them. Sometimes I have to remind them of that. Giving back to the community has always been important to our program.”
“We couldn’t do the things we do without our community support and I want to give back to them,” Davis continued. “If we ever need something, we just ask a local business and they always help us out.”
Patients at the hospital and the residents of Monarch Meadows are certainly appreciative of a group of future Lady Devils.
