By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — One man doesn’t make a team. It’s a simple phrase, but it’s the ultimate lesson volunteers hope to instill in a group of boys who attended a basketball clinic at Nazareth Children’s Home last week.
Sam Adams, a teaching parent at the home, came up with a way to teach the boys some skills and build confidence with the fundamentals of basketball.
The clinic began last Monday and continues until Wednesday.
“We are really excited about this opportunity to impact and influence our young people,” Adams said.
A lot of the children come from different backgrounds and volunteers want to build confidence and promote teamwork, “a lot of areas of their life are missing a lot of those things,” he said.
Shane, a 16-year-old resident said he’s been having a good time. He’s learning how to dribble, which is one of the things he wants to learn.
“It’s been fun. It’s worth the time and the tiredness,” he said.
Brandon, 15, has enjoyed the camaraderie this week.
“We’ve been doing some exercises and routines and drills to get our knowledge up,” he said.
Brandon admits he’s not good at basketball, but participating in the clinic is a big help.
“The biggest thing I learned is self-discipline. We’ve just been learning team drills and how to encourage one another,” he said.
He was tired and sore, but felt the time he put into the clinic was worth it.
There are about 13 participants ages 13 to 17.
“We want them to know that when they pick up a basketball that they can have confidence in themselves. Also to show them there is more to the game of basketball than just shooting a basketball, but there is life lessons that can also be learned,” Adams said.
Thomas Cousar is also a teaching parent at Nazareth and has worked with the teens to show them how to work as a team.
“Some of them are not used to being in crowds,” Cousar said.
He believes people look poorly on the children who live at Nazareth, but says these children are good kids who need someone to give them a chance.
Many of them volunteer and are junior firefighters and work to raise money for activities they want to do.
“I’ve seen them open up. They like this,” Cousar said.
Steve Berger is a friend of Adams and also volunteered to help with the clinic.
“The biggest thing is teamwork and not getting frustrated about learning new things. There’s a process,” Berger said.
He said he loves working with children.
Joshua Barger has played a support role throughout the clinic.
“I talk to them about their experiences and help them reflect on them,” he said.
It’s interesting to see the children light up after a day on the court.
“It really boosts their self-esteem,” he said.
Adams hopes to make this basketball clinic an annual event and recruit more volunteers.
For more information about the Nazareth Basketball clinic contact the home at www.nazch.com.