Professional basketball team puts on clinics for beginners
DeNia Goodman-Campbell appreciates what the Vancouver Volcanoes have to offer.
And not just during basketball season.
Vancouver’s professional basketball team doesn’t start playing its season until March, but the team’s brand remains in Clark County throughout the year.
That includes outreach from the coaches to area youth.
Goodman-Campbell’s son is 8-year-old Liam “Jules” Goodman, and Jules has plans every Saturday these days, picking up basketball skills from the Volcanoes at the Marshall Center.
“They’re taking it step by step,” Goodman-Campbell said of the clinic’s approach. This is for children, for beginners. And it is just the basics.
“We aren’t teaching anything advanced right now,” said Curtis Hill, team market owner for the Volcanoes and one of the team’s three head coaches.
“This is his favorite thing of the week,” Goodman-Campbell said.
That is the perfect review for Hill and the Volcanoes.
“We just wanted to get out there in the community and give back to the youth,” Hill said. “This is what we’re all about. It’s bigger than showing up for a game and playing a game. We have to give back to the community, as well.”
This upcoming season will be the second year for the renewed Vancouver Volcanoes. Last season’s return of the franchise got off to a slow start. The pandemic was still a bigger concern after last winter, and the first part of the season was played with no fans for home games.
Year 2 of this version of the Volcanoes should see a full season of fan-friendly entertainment.
But keeping the word out that the Volcanoes remain in town all year is important, too. The coaches run the clinics, and players show up to help out from time to time, as well.
“You always take the time to be able to mentor,” said Calvin Hampton, also a head coach. “This whole thing is geared up through mentorship. Coaches, players, we take time to give back.”
Mary Stade is on board with the Volcanoes this season, too. She is one of the three head coaches. She was an assistant with Salem last year and was the interim head coach for four games.
Now, she is a Volcano, and she appreciates helping out on Saturday’s with the clinic for the younger generation, too.
“Wherever basketball is, that’s where the experience is,” she said.
From the very basics to the professional ranks, it is basketball.
The basketball clinics run through December 17. For more information, go to: https://vancouvervolcanoes.com/youthclinics/
Also read:
- Former Vancouver sports administrator, now working in Nevada, predicts big things for girls flag football
Albert Alcantar, now in Las Vegas, says Washington’s new WIAA-sanctioned girls flag football program could mirror the success Nevada has already seen. - Vancouver selected for National Million Coaches Challenge
Vancouver Parks and Recreation has been chosen to participate in the Million Coaches Challenge, a national initiative to train youth sports coaches in inclusive, developmentally focused practices. - WDFW approves eight days of coastal razor clam digs beginning April 26WDFW has approved eight days of razor clam digs beginning April 26, with tentative final digs set for May 10–15, pending marine toxin test results.
- WIAA sanctions girls flag football; advisory vote on girls sports eligibility fails to gain 60 percent approvalThe WIAA has officially sanctioned girls flag football as a high school sport in Washington and updated several eligibility rules, while a controversial advisory vote narrowly failed.
- Clark County begins construction on Harmony Sports Complex improvementsClark County has begun parking lot and safety improvements at Harmony Sports Complex, including 200 new paved stalls and a new access point.
