LOYALSOCK TOWNSHIP, PA — Over four, week-long sessions, about 300 basketball players will attend Coach Ron "CI" Insinger's basketball camp. These kids learn the fundamentals from the legendary Loyalsock coach and his staff.
"Basketball is a game of repetition. You do it over and over and over again. It's all about preparation for it so they can wear a varsity uniform," Insinger said.
That formula has worked for 50 years since the first year of the camp. Some of them attend one week, others come for more.
"I want to grow up to be like some of the players get 1000 points to get up on that wall," said Carolyn Walter.
"I've improved a lot from this camp. This is like where I learned all my skills and stuff. It's definitely good," said Matthew Meyer.
Who better to learn from than some former stars from the Lycoming County area, including Aiden Gair and Jahad Thomas. Gair not only played for CI, but attended this camp as a kid. Both athletes know this camp is about more than just basketball.
"I just like giving back a little bit. I remember being older thinking the world of the guys like Ben Sosa Omar Little. I think the world of them and me being here, I hope I give off the same effect," Gair said.
"When you surround yourself with winners and the winners are willing to pass down their knowledge and keep you a part of a winning environment so that you can continue to see what that's like," said Thomas.
50 years of basketball camps for CI means multiple generations of players. After a health scare in the fall, Coach Insinger says, it was then that he realized the impact that he's had on those players, and it is why he continues to coach future generations.
"I was diagnosed with cancer and I've been going through chemo and radiation. And if one person, one former players has reached out to me, it's probably 1,000. That got me through, like I'm beating this. I'm winning this battle," Insinger said.
Coach Insinger says he's most proud seeing players he's coached, make it to the next level, when it all began on this court.