About 50 kids spent Friday hooping it up at the Niagara River Lions PA Day Hoops camp at Canada Games Park.

Kids ages six to nine took part in the morning session on hoops lowered to eight feet and then aspiring hoopsters ages 10 to 13 hit the court in the afternoon.

Instructing at the clinic was Kimbal Mackenzie, the captain of the 2024 Canadian Elite Basketball League champions and the current coach of the Niagara College Knights women’s basketball team.

“A lot of it is fun-based. Goal No. 1 is to come in here and have a good time,” said MacKenzie, a former scholarship player at Bucknell University. “Goal No. 2 is to give them some things that they can hopefully translate. I remember when I was a pipsqueak going to various basketball camps. I remember leaving certain camps quite motivated with a couple of specific things in mind that I could practise at home. That is what I am trying to do. Give them things they can work on such as fundamentals skills that if you learn them when you are young, everything becomes a lot easier with this game.”

The PA camp also helps to build the River Lions’ brand but that is not Mackenzie’s priority.

“It doesn’t hurt but my main focus is to just help kids fall in love with the game that I fell in love with a long, long time ago and changed my life for the better in every way possible. My goal is to get the kids moving, following some direction and learning parts of the game.”

Click here to read the full article on BP Sports Niagara.