DUNMORE, Pa. — It was an early morning start for these basketball campers in Dunmore.
The gym at Holy Cross High-School the site for the Al Callejas Jr. hoops camp. Skill development is the theme, and everyone learns from one of the best young coaches in the state.
“Al it is a long week but fun week and get these kids out of bed. You know get them in here and give them something to do and show them the fundamentals of basketball. Yeah we love it. Every summer we have been running it since we started here, and it continuously grows. It really helps to make a run to the state championship. The numbers kind of blew off the charts and unfortunately with the size of the gym we kind of had to close camp early but it great seeing 85 kids in here ready to play for a week at 8:30am in the morning,” said Al.
This is a weeklong camp that will end on Friday and there are some 80 kids here packed into this tight gym. Coach Callejas said this camp sold out rather quickly after his Holy Cross high-school boys’ basketball team made a run in the state playoffs all the way to the state final.
“What do you remember about summer camp and basketball as a kid? It was everything. I went to every camp around and I just remember sitting and listening to lectures and taking notes in books and getting to play against different people. That is why this camp is so great. Typically, you have a camp and there were a lot of kids from the same school. We have kids from 12 different schools, and they are getting to meet new friends. They are seeing what competition is out there and it's motivating them hopefully for the rest of the summer,” again said Al.
“What have you learned this week? Dribbling. Shooting and better defense,” said Michael.
“It's really fun. It’s definitely my favorite camp and I am learning a lot about basketball,” said Quinn.
“What have you learned from Coach Callejas and what do think about him as a coach? He is a great coach, and he is teaching us a lot,” said Mitchell.
The future looks bright for the next group of Lackawanna League stars to emerge. And who knows maybe the next All-State performer like Michael Hughes for Matt Lyons will emerge from this camp.