Jun. 23—One of Tamar Slay’s favorite times of the year is coming up.
The sixth annual Slay Basketball Camp will return to Beckley July 5-8 at Woodrow Wilson High School. The camp is normally held before the Fourth of July but had to be put off a few weeks because of the effect Covid-19 had on the sports calendar.
Slay, the Beckley native who now resides in Charlotte, always looks forward to coming back to his hometown. The 1998 West Virginia Boys Basketball Player of the Year went on to a career as a four-year starter Marshall and was drafted by the New Jersey Nets. After stints with the Nets and Charlotte Bobcats, he finished his 12-year pro career overseas.
“Coming back home, being able to meet new family, share some of my stories about my experiences playing in the NBA and all that is always one of the funnest times of the year for me as far as camps go,” Slay said.
The camp was unable to run last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
That adds to Slay’s excitement to get the camp going.
“We’re glad to be back this year,” Slay said. “I reached out to Mr. J.T. Payne (Woodrow’s athletic director) and he said we could get the gym. I was extremely excited about that.”
Slay said the camp will focus on several aspects of players’ fundamental development, including ball handling, shooting, passing, basketball IQ, speed and agility.
“We’re going to have some fun prizes, play some shooting games, some 5-on-5 stuff,” he said. “It’s just going to be a fun camp. It’s going to be for all ages, from kindergarten up. Woodrow is big enough for that, so whoever wants to come, I’ll try to keep the price as low as I can.”
The camp is for boys and girls going into the first through 12th grades. It will run from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. each day. Fee for the camp is $125 and includes a T-shirt.
“Parents who can’t afford to (send their kids) to the camp, just send me an email and I’ll make sure they get in,” Slay said.
Slay’s address is ts@tamarslay.com.
Payment can be made through CashApp ($Slaylife), Venmo (slaytraining-tsb1) or Zelle (7042549233).
Email: gfauber@register-herald.com and follow on Twitter @GaryFauber