CLEVELAND — Saturday is World Basketball Day, and the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrated by hosting a youth basketball camp at Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center on Wednesday night.
Daniel Sims was one of the camp coaches.
“When I was younger, I used to go to camps like this,” Sims said.
Sims loves basketball and now gets to help kids learn the game as a coach for Cavs Academy, the official youth basketball program of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“It’s like very important for me to just want to make sure they want to learn the game the right way,” Sims said.
Kevin Clayton, the executive vice president and chief impact and equity officer for the Cavs, explained that the team has a responsibility to give back to the community and this basketball camp is one of the many ways they do that.
“It really emphasizes how we bring basketball together, to bring youth together, so we can help enrich them in multiple ways,” Clayton said.
Selassie Wilson is also one of the Cavs Academy coaches who helped at the camp. He and Sims both participated in Cleveland’s Hoops After Dark Program prior to becoming youth basketball coaches.
“Hoops After Dark, it was a great program. It gave me opportunities to network and pursue basketball,” Wilson said.
More than 300 players have taken part in the Hoops After Dark Program and this year they added a mandatory personal development workshop which will help connect young people to the community. Hoops After Dark members, like Sims and Wilson, becoming coaches has created a cycle of empowerment. Wilson said he wants to show the youth the opportunities and lessons that basketball can give them.
“Teach them teamwork, teach them the competitive nature of the sport and show them that you can get other opportunities besides going to the NBA,” Wilson said.
Wilson said that being a youth basketball coach is a dream come true.
“I’ve been playing basketball literally almost every day of my life, since 12, so to have a job now associated with teaching the younger youth in basketball, it’s amazing to me,” Wilson said.
