The NBA season was nearing its conclusion last week but at Flagler Palm Coast High School, the action was ongoing and fierce.
The NBA season was nearing its conclusion last week but at Flagler Palm Coast High School, the action was ongoing and fierce.
With more than 70 childrens participating, the Coach Bevacqua Basketball Academy was in high gear last week with a half-court round-robin competition in full swing. For most of the kids on the main floor of Bulldog Gym in the E.W. Andy Anderson Athletic Center, this was a chance to apply and refine skills they learned during the first day of camp.
There was enthusiasm enough to go around. Four half-courts were in service, with eight teams of balanced skill levels going at it in a series of 12-minute games.
Fouls were called but no one went to the free-throw line as camp counselors tried to keep games moving along. Every team had at least four players — the younger kids were upstairs working on their skills on the eight-foot standards — and everybody got a liberal amount of playing time.
Founded 10 years ago by FPC girls basketball coach Javier Bevacqua, the basketball academy attracted kids as young as first grade up through sixth grade.
It’s an introduction to the sport for many children, especially the younger group, as some have intermediate skill levels and some camp attendees play on travel teams. A significant number of the campers have attended multiple years of the academy and a fair number have polished abilities in the rudiments of the game.
The direct benefit for Bevacqua and other basketball coaches in the area is a chance for a developmental program, if only for a week. And virtually all of the camp counselors are either current or former members of the FPC hoops program.
Armani Walker, a former area player of the year and 2013 FPC graduate, is now a redshirt junior for the Bethune-Cookman University women’s team. Shanika Gardner, a teammate of Walker’s and a three-year starter at FPC, now plays at North Carolina Wesleyan, and Skye Green, coaching the younger group in the balcony, has just graduated and will be playing next season for the University of North Carolina-Ashville.
Other counselors include Stephen Dimaria, currently playing varsity at Calvary Christian Academy; rising FPC senior Leah Simpson; multi-sport senior Anisa Zwolinski; rising sophomore Lily Dunaway; and junior Brianna Ellis, likely to have a broadened role as FPC girls’ team leader next year following Green’s departure.
Ellis recalled her days as an academy camper as she oversaw a half-court game in progress. She was an All Area selection this year, in her breakout year as a sophomore with the Lady Bulldogs, and played AAU basketball for years along with participating in the Coach Bevacqua Basketball Academy.
“(The camp) was really a lot of fun and very competitive," Ellis said. "It was all about learning teamwork and sportsmanship.”
This year's camp has attracted a lot more boys than before. It’s always been a co-ed learning experience, but Bevacqua said he would have liked to see a few more girls enrolled.
“We’re going to have to step up our recruitment down in the elementary schools,” he said.
In addition to learning basic skills like shooting, dribbling, passing and team defense, the academy emphasizes conditioning and running. During the skills station drills last Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, more than half of the work is devoted to footwork, agility and ball handling.
On Friday, the focus shifts as camp counselors conduct a team draft for a full-court tournament. There are daily prizes for Camper of the Day, free white and green tee shirts for all participants along with free throw and shooting competitions.