Hooping it up at Valley Stream camp

In its 13th year, participation numbers are up across the board in the Village of Valley Stream Recreation Department’s summer sports camps.

Last week’s basketball camp, held three hours every evening at Memorial Junior High School, attracted 21 kids — nearly triple that of last year when it began — and was directed by Valley Stream South boys’ varsity basketball coach Matt Johnsen.

“We focus on fundamentals and skill development,” Johnsen said. “It’s nice to see so many kids turn out. We got it off the ground last year and had eight kids. Now we’re over 20 and can do a lot more. We use the last 30 minutes to play 4-on-4 games, and the kids love it.”

The majority of time was spent on dribbling, passing, shooting and defense. Johnsen also introduced the pick-and-roll and layup drills.

“One of the goals is to get the kids to dribble with their heads up,” he said. “It’s not an easy thing to do at a young age, but I saw lots of improvement as the week went on.”

Anthony Terzulli, who in the fall will enter sixth grade at Howell Road Elementary School, returned to this year’s basketball camp after participating in the inaugural one. “Basketball is my favorite sport,” he said. “I like everything about the camp. It helps me improve my stamina, and we get to play a bunch of games.”

Coordinators Joe Gustafeste and Mike Paolillo, both teachers and coaches in the high school district, have been with the camp since its inception. There are now six specialized programs — soccer, flag football, lacrosse, basketball, volleyball and baseball/softball — consisting of 15 hours spread over five days. Camps are limited to kids entering grades 4 through 8, and the cost of $85 for village residents and $90 for Central High School District residents hasn’t changed, Gustafeste noted.

“For basically $5 an hour, the kids get instruction from veteran high school coaches,” Gustafeste said. “Everyone has a lot of fun.”

In addition to Gustafeste, Paolillo and Johnsen, others on staff include Valley Stream North assistant varsity football coach and varsity wrestling coach Tom Maddock, South boys’ varsity soccer coach Richard Boyd, former South boys’ varsity volleyball coach Scott Steuber, district junior varsity boys’ lacrosse coach Dan Kreamer, and Mike Hovanac, a coach in the West Hempstead district.

This year’s camp schedule concludes next week (July 23-27) with the baseball/softball portion at Firemen’s Field, and registration is still open. For more information call (516) 825-8570.