Basketball camp starting soon

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
School is almost out for the summer, but the opportunity to learn is still abundant. Summer camps and lifting programs are about to get underway for NHS athletes, but aspiring Dogies can get in on the action as well.
Dogie basketball head coach Allen Von Eye, along with Lady Dogies’ head coach Chad Ostenson are once again offering the Future Dogie Basketball Camp for boys and girls entering the first through 12th grades. The camp serves as an excellent opportunity for the local young people to learn or refine their basketball skills for a reasonable price and without having to leave town.
“Our teams believe that in order to ensure success in the future, it is paramount that our programs reach out to more than just the high school players. They must begin to reach its future, which are the young players in this community,” Von Eye nodded.
Learning and mastering the fundamentals of basketball is vital to develop successful players and programs, and the coaches understand that it is also important to develop a passion for the game in the process. As such, another goal of the Future Dogie camp is to teach these skills in a fun, yet productive manner.
“I absolutely love working with our youth, especially in the realm of basketball. Anyone that comes in to watch can see the energy that goes into our camps and the individual interactions and relationships that are built. To me, it is incredibly important because I will teach and coach these student-athletes in the future, so I want to have a relationships built on energy and excitement,” Von Eye exclaimed.
“Our camps focus on inclusion, energy, building foundations of skills, and having fun while we do it. We want this to be a memorable experience that keeps our kids coming back for more basketball!”
The coaching staff of the Dogies and Lady Dogies are the hosts of the camp, and will be joined by Josh Mueller and the Ambush Basketball Academy the last two days of the three day camp.
Mueller brings with him an impressive basketball resume. He remains the third all-time leading scorer in South Dakota history, he was a three-time first team All-State player and was named player of the year. In addition, Mueller played seven years of professional basketball and served as head of player development for Telecom Baskets Bonn in Germany.
First through third grade students are up first from 9:00-10:15 on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 4th and 5th, while freshmen through seniors will run from 1:00-4:00 on those days as well. The fourth through eighth grade students will be at it for three days. On Tuesday and Wednesday, these players will be the focus from 10:30-12:30, and on Thursday there will be competitions for this age group from 9 to noon.
“Our 1st-3rd grade session will be based on an introduction to skills in basketball and incorporating fun games that get kids juiced up about the game! We follow a lot of the USA Basketball ideals and incorporate this into our planning for our camp,” Von Eye began. “Our 4th-8th grade session is based on the enhancement of FUNdamental skills, teaching our athletes how to train, and developing a sense of competitiveness, while our 9th-12th grade is about training to compete and training to win. This is for players that want to play in our high school programs and want to help themselves be more successful.”  
Registration forms may be found at any of the Newcastle schools, and the cost is $25 for first through third graders, $45 for fourth through eighth, and $65 for freshmen through seniors. Checks should be made payable to Newcastle Basketball, and though walk-ins are accepted, Von Eye and Ostenson prefer that registration forms along with payment be returned to the high school office by May 31.
Though the high school office will accept registration and payment, any questions should be directed to coaches. Coach Von Eye can be reached at 307-746-2026 or via email at voneye@wcsd1.org, while Ostenson’s contact information is 307-746-5882 orostensonc
@wcsd1.org.