On Saturday March 13, over 100 kids from Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego gathered to participate in the first ever semi-annual Sikh basketball camp. The camp was held at Khalsa Care Foundation and next door at Pacoima Middle School.
Registration began at 9 AM at Khalsa Care Foundation, and by 10 AM, over 100 participants ages 8-18 were stretching and preparing to run basketball drills in the Pacoima Middle School gym. The kids spent the first half of the day running basic drills that taught them fundamental basketball skills such as dribbling, passing, and layups.
The participants were split up into age groups and each group was monitored by volunteers from the Singh Sensations, an all Sikh, local basketball team. The participants and volunteers took a break for nutritional lunch of Subway sandwiches, and then came back together for a discussion on healthy living, sportsmanship and how to play sports while keeping the Sikh identity.
Members of the Singh Sensations basketball team spoke about sportsmanship and teamwork, and how kids should be acting on the court. They also spoke about how sports can be used as a metaphor for how to live as a Sikh.
The volunteers shared some of the problems that they faced when playing sports in high school and how they got through those problems. By then the participants were re-energized, inspired and ready to start playing some scrimmages. The participants were again split up by age and ran scrimmages within their groups. By the end of the camp, at 4 PM, kids who had never played basketball before in their lives were familiar with the fundamentals and had a chance to play in games.
Kids who had been playing basketball for years, had relearned some of the basic that they may have forgotten and improved their games through practice. The participants all left happy and energized with t-shirts and souvenir steel water bottles.
This camp was the first ever basketball camp and definitely not the last. Another camp will be held in about six months and in the future, there will also be other sports camps including soccer, football and softball.
The camp was held by the Singh Sensations, a local Sikh basketball team that competes in the City of Burbank’s Adult Basketball league. The team is comprised of a group of young Sikhs ranging from university students to professionals in various workplaces. These individuals are also active member of the surrounding Sikh community.
For more information on the Singh Sensations or to find out when their games are, please visit www.singhsensations.com