Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by Dustin Cook

LEARNING NEW SKILLS – (Left) Coach Grace Wade demonstrates a dribbling drill during the Basketball Yukon Spring Basketball Camp. (Right) Players work on their jump shot in a shooting drill during the Grade 10-12 boys session.

Elite coaches host spring basketball camp

Young Yukon basketball players had the chance to learn from elite-level coaches – who made the 6,000-kilometre trip up North to share their love of the game.

By Dustin Cook on April 26, 2018

Young Yukon basketball players had the chance to learn from elite-level coaches – who made the 6,000-kilometre trip up North to share their love of the game.

University of New Brunswick women’s team head coach Jeff Speedy and recently-retired player Grace Wade hosted six sessions on the weekend during the Spring Basketball Camp.

Hosted by Sport Yukon and Basketball Yukon, the camp offered players from Grades 7-12 the chance to work with Speedy and Wade in three-hour sessions that were split up by age and gender. The camp attracted the East Coast duo through Sport Yukon executive directory Tracey Bilsky who used to work with Speedy at Thompson Rivers University.

Bilsky said Speedy has been involved with the growth of basketball for her two daughters and conversations started about five years ago for him coming up to run a clinic. This year, the idea became reality with five player sessions and a two-hour coaches’ clinic slotted for the weekend.

“The biggest thing is it’s a different voice and a different perspective for the athletes,” Bilsky said.

Speedy, who was also previously an assistant coach for the women’s national development team, said this experience offered his first trip up to the Yukon and also the chance to pass on what he knows about the game – not only to players but coaches in the territory.

“I don’t think I’m anything special as a coach, but I have done it at this level for 25 years. Having done this for a long time I think I have some ideas that could be a little fresh,” Speedy said of his plans for the coaches’ clinic. “I’d just like to hear what questions they might have. If they are wondering what are the best ways to defend a ball screen, I don’t know if I know the best ways but I know several different ways.”

Wade recently completed five seasons playing for UNB under Speedy, which is why he thought she would be a great fit for the camp.

“Grace just retired as a player. She’s already a very good coach and has the chance to be a great coach and I think can do this for a living,” Speedy said.

Wade said she hopes to stay involved in the game through coaching and also loves to travel, so it was a great opportunity to make her first trip to the Yukon. The pair said they didn’t have a set plan for each session as it depended on numbers and skill level, but they both had goals for what they wanted the groups to take away.

“Maybe increase their interest in basketball,” Wade said. “A lot of them have played before obviously but hopefully they stay interested and want to improve and hopefully one day they kind of take after my experience and hope to play at the university level and work their hardest to get there.”

Speedy echoed that sentiment, adding he hopes the young players can take away something to improve their game.

“We’re just trying to show them some things that they can work on on their own and maybe show them one or two things they might not have been shown before,” he said. “It’s three hours of basketball and if you’re in the gym for three hours whether it’s with me or not with me or with Grace or not with Grace, you’re gonna get a little bit better and enjoy the game.”

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