It was a great first day at camp today!  We have 77 awesome kids who worked hard all day.  Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi in Leominster High School is being repaired, so I cannot post the schedule earlier in the day.  Here is what we did at camp today:

• Shooting with Coach Woj
• Shooting games
• Passing – chest, bounce, over-head
• Foul shooting
• Outlet passing following by lay-ups

Congratulations to our Hustle Award winners today – Matthew and Isabel!

Congratulations to our Sportsmanship Award winners today – Ethan and Celia!

A reminder – tomorrow is college day, so wear something representing your favorite college.  See everyone in the morning!

We are so excited about camp starting tomorrow!  It’s hard to believe that the camp is turning 20 this year!  In 1997, Mark Osowski returned to his hometown after his first year in the NBA and started the Mark Osowski Pro Basketball Camp.  Tomorrow, we continue the tradition with the same passion Mark began it with 20 years ago.  We honor his legacy of serving the kids of Leominster and look forward to a great week!

The 2017 Mark Osowski Basketball Clinic is scheduled for August 14 – August 18 at Leominster High School.  Registration is required and no registrations will be accepted on the first day of camp.  To register, contact the Leominster Recreation Department.  We look forward to seeing all the campers in August!!!

Wow!  I was so tired after camp yesterday that I completely forgot to post our winner for Friday and for the week!  It was a hot and exhausting week, but I think all the kids had fun!  After camp ended yesterday, we took all the counselors out for lunch.  They could not stop talking about all the great memories from the week.  They all want to come back next year, so I hope we have a lot of returning campers to go with them!

Congratulations to our daily award winners for Friday!  Our Hustle Award winners – Abby and Richie!  And our Sportsmanship Award winners – Grace and Carson!  Way to go!!!

On Friday, we also had a longer awards ceremony to give all the campers a basketball medal for participation and hand out some special weekly awards.  The weekly award choices were very hard this year because there were several kids for each category that could have won it.  We gave out four awards in each category – two older kids (one boy and one girl) and two younger kids (one boy and one girl).  Here are our winners:

• Mark Osowski Award – Jeff and Yenae
• Most Improved Player – Jake, Aiden, Hannah, and Katie
• High Five Award – Liam, Emilio, Elyanna, and Margaret
• Great Attitude Award – Abraham, Kevin, Caleigh, and Abby
• Weekly Hustle Award – Jan, Luke, Caiya, and Kassandra
• Weekly Sportsmanship Award – Jacob, Owen, Madison, and Valencia

Thanks again to everyone for a great week!  I have a lot of pictures that I will get posted within the next week.  I just need to go through and edit a bit and make sure there are no shots of anyone whose picture should not be posted.  Check back in a week to see what your kids were doing at basketball camp!  🙂

Here is a preview of the group camp picture that all the kids will be coming home with today:

Such a great group!!!  GO TEAM!!!

What a week it has been!  The campers have been awesome, and we have all enjoyed ourselves!  Here is our schedule for our last day of camp:

• 9:00-9:20 – Shoot around and camp picture
• 9:20-9:25 – Dynamic stretching
• 9:25-9:45 – Dribble Tag
• 9:45-10:05 – Passing
• 10:05-10:15 – Go over booklet
• 10:15-10:40 – Mike Bengrazi speaking
• 10:40-10:55 – Snack and water break
• 10:55-11:15 – Shooting
• 11:15-11:45 – Knock out
• 11:45-12:00 – Relay race
• 12:00-12:30 – Sampling of camp activities for parents to see – plyometrics, defensive stance, shooting games, ball handling
• 12:30-1:00 – Camp awards and thanks to parents

What a hot one on Thursday!!!  The kids did great in the heat and we made it through the day!  Congratulations to our daily award winners!

Congratulations to our Daily Hustle Award winners – Luke and Bridget!  Great job!!!

Congratulations to our Daily Sportsmanship Award winners – Madison and William!!!  Awesome work today!!!

We will see everyone for the last day on Friday.  Just a reminder – we end camp at 1:00pm on Friday.  We will start the awards ceremony around noon if you want to come early.

It’s blue and white day today at camp, so it’s a sea of Leominster pride around here!  It’s going to be super hot today, so we have modified our schedule a little to make sure the kids are getting extra water breaks (not all are shown on the schedule) and are not doing activities that are too strenuous in the middle of the day.  We will be watching a film on offense and teamwork as well as a memorial film about Mark Osowski.  The film was made my the Cleveland Cavaliers media director after he died and given as a gift to his family.  It shows Mark in action coaching with the Cavs, which is great for the kids to see.  There is even a scene with Mark on the sidelines chatting with Lebron James – that is always a highlight for kids.  Here is the rest of the schedule for Thursday:

• 9:00-9:20 – Shoot around and dynamic stretching
• 9:20-9:40 – Defensive stance
• 9:40-9:55 – Rebounding and boxing out
• 9:55-10:20 – Dribbling and ball handling
• 10:20-10:25 – Water break
• 10:25-10:45 – Games of 21
• 10:45-11:10 – Moving passes
• 11:10-11:20 – Review motion offense
• 11:20-12:00 – 4 on 4 games
• 12:00-12:25 – Lunch
• 12:25-12:50 – Knock out
• 12:50-1:30 – Films
• 1:30-1:35 – Dynamic stretching
• 1:35-1:55 – Mikan Drill
• 1:55-2:00 – Water break
• 2:00-2:15 – Dribbling and lay ups
• 2:15-2:30 – Passing
• 2:30-2:45 – Beat the clock
• 2:45-3:00 – Awards and reminders about the last day tomorrow (Reminders: We will give out the camp T-shirts in the morning and take a group photo.  The kids will get a copy of the photo before they leave.  They will also get a booklet with great tips for practicing at home.  We will have snack at 11:00 and pick up is at 1:00 after our awards ceremony.)

It’s getting hotter and hotter this week, but our campers are stepping up to the challenge, working hard, and staying hydrated.  Congratulations to our daily award winners from Wednesday!

Congratulations to our Hustle Award winners from Wednesday – Hannah and Aric!  Awesome job!!!

And congratulations to our Sportsmanship Award winners from Wednesday – Kassandra and Ryan!  Way to go!!!

It is very green in here today with all the Celtics shirts for “Pro Day”!  Coach O’Neill has planned another action packed day for the kids today!  We also have our camp cookout today…despite the rain!  We will be cooking just outside the door under umbrellas and the kids will eat inside in the hallway where they usually eat. Here is the full schedule for today:

• 9:00-9:20 – Shoot around and dynamic stretching
• 9:20-9:40 – Defensive stance and Z slides
• 9:40-10:15 – Moving for shots with Coach K
• 10:15-10:20 – Water break
• 10:20-10:50 – Form shooting with taped fingers
• 10:50-11:10 – Shooting games
• 11:10-11:20 – Review motion offense
• 11:20-12:00 – 4 on 4 games
• 12:00-12:30 – Lunch (Camp Cookout)
• 12:30-12:45 – Knock out
• 12:45-1:00 – Video on shooting
• 1:00-1:10 – Dynamic stretching
• 1:10-1:30 – Spot shooting
• 1:30-1:50 – Moving passes
• 1:50-2:10 – Full court transition passing/layup drill
• 2:10-2:15 – Water break
• 2:15-2:30 – Beat the clock
• 2:30-2:50 – Dribble relay (using blinders)
• 2:50-3:00 – Daily awards

We will post the daily award winners later.  Let’s have a fun day!