Just under 30 young men attended our inaugural Next Step Basketball Camp this summer. Lead by Basketball Development Officer Dean Blake, the camp took place in early August. All Basketball players in attendance were eligible for University enrollment in September 2022.

For 3 days campers were put through their paces, as if they were student athletes here at UW. “From as north as Liverpool and as south as Sussex, we wanted to show them what the next step on their academic and sporting journey could look like.” said Coach Dean.

The weekend started with fitness testing lead by our Strength and Conditioning staff, and evening games. The games were utilised to assess players and split them into competitive teams for the remainder of the camp. Days 2 and 3 were full of skills and drills and competitive games.

We wanted to see what was out there. With the pandemic, we didn’t get the opportunity to see players play. So we thought the best way to see them was to invite them here. The camp seemed to work well and the campers enjoyed it which is the most important thing.

There’s already talk of the camp being held next year and it being expanded so we can invite more players. “We definitely want to host the camp again next summer and make it bigger and better for the participants. To include girls in the camp or maybe even have a girls only camp as well, would be amazing.” Coach Dean added

Please stay tuned for announcements of camp dates.