Xejuyup

(Breezy, Jamal, Mit'hat, Sam and Tyler)

This summer, the pied-piper of Xejuyup has returned with a vengance...welcome back Samuel. Also returning home are Mit'hat, Breezy and Tyler along with our newest addition, Jamal.Withour squad complete, we have set out on our quest for the 'Ship.

During our first week of camp, we were graciously welcomed by our group (or kids) consisting of about 23 boys and 20 girls. We begin each day with warm-up exercises consisting of laps, stretching and pushups. Later we begin drills such as dribbling competitions, shooting, passing and defensive slides. A typical day in Xejuyup is never complete without a ball rolling down the steep mountain into the cornfields, resulting in all the boys flying down the mountain to get it. After the ball is retrieved, camp resumes with 1 on 1, 2 on 2 and finally 5 on 5 competitions at the end.

We have narrowed down the boys and girls teams to 10 memebers each. It was sad cutting kids who show so much effort, but it is great to work with smaller groups because we are now teaching advanced basketball topics like zone and man defenses and setting picks on offense. It's evident that the kids hard work has paid off in the first two weeks because their skills keep improving daily. When we first came to the camp some kids couldn't dribble and had trouble reaching the rim. It is amazing how quickly they are improving.

We are really getting close to our kids the more time we spend with them. We are amazed that the families are allowing their 4th, 5th and 6th graders to miss work in order to come to our camp. We must reiterate what an honor it is to work with them.