ARCANUM – The Arcanum Lady Trojans basketball program, under the direction of veteran head basketball coach Abbey Moore, hosted 117 basketball campers for four days at the Arcanum-Butler gymnasiums.
“It’s great to see this many kids, a new record for me,” said Arcanum Lady Trojans head coach Abbey Moore. “I love it. I love sharing my love of basketball with girls, and that is what we are doing here, teaching them a few other things along the way.”
The 117 campers shattered Moore’s previous high of 106 campers attending to learn and improve basketball fundamentals.
“We’ve been teaching all kinds of fundamentals,” said Moore. “I’ve been focusing on giving them some different drills they can do with ball handling, shooting, and defensive drills to take home and use throughout the summer. They were fun drills, and we’ve seen a lot of excitement over these last four days, a lot of smiles on their faces so that they want to go home and do it.”
The four-day camp had two sessions each day: a two-hour morning session for incoming sixth through eighth graders and a two-hour afternoon session made up of first through fifth-grade girls.
The Lady Trojans JV girls’ basketball coaches and Arcanum JV coach Stevie Johnting Zumbrun assisted Coach Moore and the JV and varsity girls’ basketball teams.
“My girls have been a tremendous help,” Coach Moore stated. “I told them before day one I was going to apologize to them ahead of time because I was going to be a little bossy this week, but anything I asked them to do; they do it, they don’t hesitate, they don’t ask questions. I couldn’t be any more proud of these girls for all the help.”
“Coach Stevie, Coach Z, she’s my right-hand gal,” Moore continued. “We couldn’t do it without her. She’s been a great help. My two junior high coaches have been helping our junior high session. That was great for them to come in and get to know the girls coming up, and Coach Fearon came in as well.”
Two Lady Trojans senior starters, Alexis Gibbons and Brooke Anderson, were helping Coach Moore with the camp as always. Gibbins hopes to help young girls gain confidence, while Anderson focuses on fundamentals.
“Confidence is the biggest thing I struggled with growing up,” Gibbons said, planning to continue playing basketball at the college level. “Having someone tell them that they can do it even though they are not getting it to the basket, I think, can help go a long way. I love all the little girls because I know they will be in my position like I was as a little girl.”
“It means a lot being able to come in here all four days and teach these girls the fundamentals of playing basketball and new things,” said Anderson. “Something they can use their basketball career and whole life. I came up doing camps and remember having competitions and fun.”
Coach Moore is pleased with the program’s support from the Arcanum-Butler administrative staff, who often stop by the gym to observe the camp.
“These kind of things in the summer fuel the spirit of your school, and when school starts back up, you talk about what you did over the summer,” Moore said. “Some are the highlights of basketball camp. It does a lot for a school district, keeps them involved, and gets them out and playing. You want them to escape those cell phones and electronics and come out and have fun.”
