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Wednesday, July 8, 2009

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'The best things in life are free' By DAHALIA SMITH ~ NG Sports Reporter ~ dahalia@nasguard.com: Basketball Smiles, an American education advocacy group, in conjunction with the charitable Patti Johnson Basketball Camp and H.O. Nash Junior High School, has continued to give back to the youth over the past decade. The founder of the organization, Sam Nichols, and his associate Randy Thompson were guest speakers on the opening day (Wednesday) of the Patti Johnson camp, which is in its 11th year, on the H.O. Nash school grounds. Nichols and Thompson have been visiting the camp since its inception, and other camps around The Bahamas. They both gave encouraging words to the dozens of boys and girls in attendance, all between the ages of 2-20 years. Nichols has an extensive background in the sport of basketball, as a retired veteran coach of 32 years at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas. He highly endorses and favors athletes with good attitudes. "Usually when we attend these camps, we do a life skills program whereby we highlight the importance of education, good character, being good citizens and we also encourage them to have a vision," he said. "This year however with coach Johnson's approval, a tutorial program will be started. To show our support we saw fit to supply basketball gear and school stationary supplies to the campers." Nichols was inducted into the Women's Basketball Coaches Association 500-victory Club in 2002, recognizing his success over 31 years of coaching at the high school and collegiate levels. He has 650 wins under his belt and is considered the 'most winningest' coach in McMurry's history for that program. Quality education is highly promoted by Coach Patti Johnson and all children should be afforded this necessity, she said. "Nichols and Thompson reach out to many of the children in the inner city who probably would not get an opportunity to go to the states and be exposed to proper coaching. The programs and camps give us a chance to tell the youth that if they work hard, chances are high that they might earn scholarships to receive higher education," said Johnson, who has won numerous Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) junior girls basketball titles. "Student athletes interested in furthering their education through sporting disciplines must realize that they have to have the grades and then their talent would be considered," she added. Thompson, one of Nichols' scholarship locators and basketball scouts, looks for players who possess a solid academic background over anything else. "The game is so much different now in that you need fast players, versatile shooters and a person with good work ethics. There are many athletes with great talent out there. However, I can take a group of average players with good attitudes and beat a team that is considered to have more talent but have average attitudes," said Nichols. The Patti Johnson camp is free of charge for young Bahamians between the ages of 2-20 and runs on weekdays from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. until July 24. The only criteria, according to Johnson, is exhibition of good behavior. T-shirts for the campers are also complimentary. Thursday, June 25, 2009