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Jun. 17—The Glynn Academy girls basketball coaches held another one-day high-intensity camp Wednesday for high schoolers where they had a big group of girls and a few boys compete it out on the court.

Kids from the Glynn area and the Ponte Vedra, Jacksonville area came together to learn from Glynn’s coaches Sharnesha and Shayla Smith.

“I thought today went very well,” Sharnesha Smith said. “We had a great group of young ladies and gentlemen too — ended up having three boys that came, which was very good. Then we had a great abundance of kids outside of Glynn Academy, it was 15 total kids outside of Glynn Academy, and then we had our kids too. So a good number — I thought today was perfect in regards to the planning.”

The camp ran from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., where campers got a full experience of what it’s like to be a Lady Terror. They ran through skill drills in the morning, then got to go into the classroom for a break to learn about team building and what it’ll take to get into college.

“So we went through our whole normal routine of how our practices go — very intense, very high energy,” Smith said. “Then we were able to split up, do a lot of skill work, and be able to focus on some defensive stuff.

“Then we were able to incorporate a classroom session where we did some team building and some icebreakers with them. We also had time to focus on NCAA Clearinghouse stuff because we had a lot of elite athletes in that camp who want to play at the next level.”

Smith said they went through the entire NCAA Clearinghouse website to educate the campers on what it takes to get into Division I, Division II, III, NAIA and JUCO schools.

“We went through all those things for them to focus on academics, where they should be, what classes they should be taking, what their GPA should be, test scores and things like that,” Smith said. “We touched every single column there was, just because a lot of kids love to say, ‘I want to go D1, but let’s be honest, some of them just don’t have what it takes.

“So just being able to give them that information and say, ‘Hey, there are other schools out here — other great schools that you guys can go and play. Even if you guys don’t want to play at the next level, this is still great for you to follow your academic path.”

She said it was very informational for the guys and gals because it opens their eyes to how hard it is to take it to the next level.

“They don’t know what they aren’t told, and they don’t know what they don’t see,” Smith said. “So being able to have the background that I had being a collegiate coach for five years, being a Division 1 athlete going through all of that with my parents and my sister played Division 1 too so being able to go through all of that, and you learn as you go. With me being a coach at that level, too, I learned, and I saw a lot of things. Being able to give that feedback to a lot of kids, I think that’s like a great tool that we have.”

She also implemented team-building drills to get the group uncomfortable and realize sometimes you’re going to have to depend on people you don’t know because it’s a huge part of succeeding.

“We made them come up with their basketball philosophy. We split them up into teams, and they were able to come up with their own statement, and we challenged them to live by that statement,” Smith said. “It’s one thing to write down that stuff, but to actually say that you live by that every single day — that’s one thing. I think it’s important just to be able to have that camaraderie with people you don’t know, and if you can work well with somebody that you meet the same day like that’s huge.”

After the classroom session, the group came back into the gym, stretched out and got divvied up into teams to play for about an hour.

Once they finished, the Glynn Academy girls decided who would get the camp awards of the day. Smith said the coaches have no part in the selection because they wanted their girls to pay attention and choose.

There was a Camper of the Day, a Floor General, the Motor, Most Vocal/Leader, a Sharp Shooter and Mr. Energy — to include the boys.

Camper of the Day was the kid who did everything right during the day. The Floor General was the point guard who controlled the floor and saw plays and things before they happened. The Motor was one of the hardest workers out there — Smith said the scrappy, blue-collar worker who got those 50/50 balls. The Most Vocal/Leader was the one that was heard in every drill, clapping and bringing up the energy. The Sharpshooter was the most successful on the court, shooting from everywhere, and Mr. Energy was the top male camper.

Smith said they decided to do this camp so anyone, not just Glynn County kids, could come to learn from them. She said it’s not just about the kids here locally but anyone who wants to take on the challenge.

“They’re going to get a good workout, they’re going to get the information that they need, and then they’re going to get the support,” Smith said. “Wherever they go from there, they know they have our support, and we’re able to touch every last kid if we can. I think that’s important. I think we open our doors to any kid.”

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