Bellarmine-Jefferson Youth Basketball Camp gaining traction
BURBANK — For about four hours per day, there’s plenty of topics to cover at the Bellarmine-Jefferson Youth Basketball Camp.
From spending nearly an hour in the weight room and then stepping on to the court at Bell-Jeff to go through a series of drills, time isn’t wasted under the direction of camp coordinator Ernie Ford.
Ford, a certified coach and trainer, makes it a priority to oversee the campers correctly complete exercises in rebounding, shooting, dribbling and more. He’ll provide instruction and address the strengths and weakness of each participant after each drill.
“It’s just mainly about getting people into the gym and getting across the message about conditioning and being fundamentally sound so you can be successful,” said Ford, who is the owner of LaKris Sports Academy, which presents the event that began Monday and wraps up Friday. “There’s a focus on training and skills enhancement. It can be anything from ball-handling to shooting to developing a post move.
“We don’t want 100 kids in the gymnasium and just babysitting them. We take pride in one-on-one drills and making sure they become that much more disciplined so it puts them in better position to get to the next level. Everybody wants to be good. They’ll do things 10,000 times and then do it again 10,000 times.”
The camp, geared for boys and girls’ ages 10-17, attracted participants from Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena and Long Beach. A similar camp was conducted by Ford, who served as interim coach of the Bell-Jeff boys’ basketball team last season, in June.
Ford, a native of Chicago who now resides in Burbank, said there are numerous challenges in the camp.
“We want to make sure you are improving every day,” Ford, 57, said. “Basketball is an action and reaction type of sport, so we want to make sure your skill level sets you apart during practices and games.
“You are getting feedback after each drill and right there is the pay-off. We encourage everybody to be able to talk about the things they have learned. We want you to see the immediate differences in your skill level and you’ll see it by way of doing the repetitions.”
Ford, who has trained NBA and European League players for nearly 30 years, had a group of about 12 campers that included Cosette Balmy, a senior point guard at Bell-Jeff.
Balmy helped Bell-Jeff capture the CIF Southern Section V-A championship in March. Balmy was tabbed the division player of the year and with All-Area first-team recognition.
“I feel so lucky and blessed that I can learn from Ernie,” said Balmy, who helped the Guards win the Santa Fe League championship and advance to the CIF State Division V Southern California final. “I think Ernie is a genius just by the way he breaks things down. He teaches you everything you need to know.
“You learn from him how to make better decisions with the ball and you start to see a lot of things differently. There are no excuses with him. You do the drills and you’ll see a difference.”
Anton Studer of La Crescenta took in plenty from Ford.
“I like to play basketball every day,” Studer, 11, said. “He picked up on some things that I wasn’t doing right with shooting and dribbling. He showed me step by step how to shoot a layup while going to the basket and he taught me how to handle the ball the right way while getting ready to shoot.
“One of the best parts of the camp is being able to go through each drill and pick up something along the way. There’s a lot to remember, but it gives you a shot at being successful and giving you an advantage.”
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
