EHS basketball teams going to sports camps

Even with temperatures nearing 100 degrees, basketball is on the minds of Enterprise High School players and coaches.

“We just finished going through our team camp last week here at Enterprise-Ozark Community College,” said Albert Weeden Jr., EHS head coach. “We’re practicing as a team on Monday and Thursday afternoons through the end of June. Players can come in on Tuesdays and Wednesdays on their own if they want to; the gym is open.
 
“This week, we’re getting ready to go to Birmingham-Southern College for a team camp Friday and Saturday.”
 
Team camps serve several purposes, Weeden said.
 
“Team camps let our players measure themselves against teams from other parts of the state,” the veteran coach noted. “We expect to see teams like Spain Park, Hoover, and Hewitt Trussville from the Birmingham area, plus teams from Tuscaloosa and Huntsville this weekend.
 
“Going to these camps gives the kids a chance to see what other players in their age group are doing in other parts of the state. When teams make it to the state championship tournament, they’ll see teams from throughout Alabama, not just from their local area.
 
“Going to these camps definitely gives them a heads-up on what they need to work on individually and as a team.”

The EHS varsity boys’ team is not the only squad attending team camps this summer.
 
“Coach (John) Ayers is taking the jayvee team to Troy Friday and Saturday,” Weeden said. “The EHS jayvees are the defending camp champions. As with the varsity, this is good tournament-like game experience for these kids.
 
“In July, we’re taking rising seventh- and eighth-graders to Birmingham-Southern for a camp. This is our third trip there with this age group and we’ve won the championship the past two summers and have only lost one game since we’ve been going there.
 
“For some of our kids, this is their first trip away from home without their parents, so it’s quite an experience for them. Taking them into a tournament environment at this early age allows the kids to see what they need to work on, and they begin to discover what it’s going to take for them to be able to play 6A basketball in Alabama.

“We also welcome the parents who want to come up and watch their kids play in these camps The games are a lot of fun to watch and folks can make a great family outing of it if they want to do that.”