Aaron Boyland, left, shoots the ball during Monday’s opening day of the annual Marysville Basketball in the Pit camp. More than 100 youngsters are participating in the camp this week at Marysville High School.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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The annual Marysville Basketball in the Pit camp continues to attract a good number of boys hoopsters.
The camp, which started in the 1980s under then-Monarch head coach Jim Kaufman, began its current run on Monday at Marysville High School.
There are 120 youngsters in grades 3-9 (going into the 2019-20 academic year) who are participating in the camp.
“That number is about the same as the past few years,” said Marysville High School head coach Ryan Grose. “The highest we’ve had since I’ve been here (since 2010) was 140, so we’ve been averaging between 120-140 each year.”
The camp is broken into two sessions.
Youngsters going into grades 3-6 are in the morning session, while those in grades 7-9 take the court during the afternoon.
This week’s sessions have separate goals.
“We want to build basic skills in the younger boys,” said Grose. “We also want to create fun energy for the game of basketball.
“We want to build that energy with the hopes the kids will want to continue to play and keep up their interest.”
Afternoon sessions are a bit more advanced.
“The sessions for the older guys are basically trials for next season’s tryouts,” said Grose. “That time is for guys who want to try out for the seventh, eighth and ninth grade teams next winter.
“This allows our coaching staff to get to know those kids before practices begin next year,” he said. “This also enables the guys in those grades to get a jump on next year.”
Grose said it’s difficult to determine how many campers have gone on to play high school basketball for MHS during his tenure.
“It’s hard to determine an exact percentage, because we have to make cuts to our roster before the season begins,” he said. “I would say we average four-to-five kids from our camp who make it to their senior season.
“It basically comes down to how many guys want to put in the work to make themselves into varsity players as the years go by.”
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