Basketball camp thrives in Baldwin

The First Annual Baldwin Bruins Basketball Camp for boys and girls entering grades 1-9 proved a big hit and concluded Aug. 5 with exciting championship games in several age divisions.

“We never expected such a large turnout, but it’s great to see,” said Baldwin’s girls’ varsity basketball coach Tom Catapano, who co-directs the camp with Bruins’ boys’ varsity coach Darius Burton. “We had 150 kids over two weeks and received a tremendous amount of positive feedback from parents,” Catapano added. “There wasn’t a basketball-only camp available in the community and it’s something Darius and I spoke about starting for a few years.”

Burton, who starred at guard for Baldwin and Hofstra University and coached the Bruins to a Nassau County championship three seasons ago, said campers spent portions of the six-hour daily routine working at skill stations, which included shooting, dribbling, rebounding and passing. Fun competitions and game scrimmages were conducted daily as well.

“We spend a lot of time on fundamentals,” Burton said. “The kids also got to experience rules of the game and working as a team in game situations.”

An experienced coaching staff of nearly 20 included current and former players on Burton’s teams at Baldwin as well as members of Catapano’s two-time defending Nassau County champion Lady Bruins.

The cost for campers was $100 for one week or $150 for two weeks. Broken down by the hour, the latter came at a cost of $2.50.

“It’s great to give back to the community,” Catapano said. “All of the funds, minus what it cost us to hire staff, goes right back into our program.”