Team Green bouncing into Long Beach

Long Beach students were able to play basketball alongside the pros for an entire week last year. Team Green is going to give them another chance next month, and this time with more to learn.

Danny Green, a professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers and three-time NBA champion, headlines the camp, along with his family, including his father, and other coaches. The camp, which will place from July 17 to 21, saw about 60 kids and teens of all ages and skill levels take part last year. They expect between 70 and 100 this year.

The camp teaches young players the fundamentals of basketball — dribbling, passing, defense and shooting.

“As far as training goes, the format is pretty much the same this year,” Danny Green Sr. said. “Conditioning, the skills and the training is still the same. We have added a new element, though. We’ve added financial literacy.”

Green Sr. said the academy was recently re-branded so it could offer more than just on-court skills training. The main goal was to teach some of the things that they felt are missing in academics and schools, like teaching kids how to organize their finances. Kids will be able to learn what credit is, how checking accounts work, investing and using your money wisely. They hope to help the kids be better off and more informed by the time they hit adulthood.

For the financial literacy portions of the clinic, they partnered with CAPTRUST, a North Carolina-based financial advising company, to hold seminars for the kids. Handouts, books and PowerPoints are offered during the seminars, which are now offered at each of the camp’s clinics.

The clinic will still involve the same things as last year regarding basketball. Each day of the camp consists of stations where the kids can learn all different aspects and concepts of the game. They learn these skills over the course of the week before showcasing them in a game against their coaches on the final day.

They also have giveaways for the kids, including apparel and signed basketballs.

“We have certain staff members that we keep everywhere and they come with us to each clinic,” Green Sr. said. “Wherever the community is though, we want to get some home-grown folks that live there to not just work with us, but also experience how it works and how it functions.”

The camp, which was founded in 2009 when Green was drafted, has traveled to Texas, North Carolina and New York, including some other Long Island communities. The camp has traveled to Floral Park, North Babylon, where Green is from, and Manhasset, where Green went to school at St. Mary’s High School. This will be its second year in Long Beach.

This summer’s clinic will be at Long Beach High School, for everyone in kindergarten through high school, and costs $300 per person.