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The scene at 5:30 p.m. inside of the Sheridan Activity Center was a symbol of peace and tranquility.
However, thirty minutes later, the gymnasium would be packed full of tiny hoopsters looking to learn from those who had been in their size three shoes before — not to mention, play a little basketball.
Inside of the chaos of over 100 kids was a basketball camp being held by the Dodge City Community College men's basketball team.
The event was being held in cooperation with the city and the Sheridan Center and had a fantastic turnout for being the first time that the college had hosted a youth camp under the tenure of head coach Brady Trenkle.
The players, who had just completed a two and a half hour practice, were assigned to stations to help teach the kids the basic fundamentals of the sport, whether it be ball-handling, boxing out for a rebound or setting a pick.
Kids were separated into grade categories, from kindergarten up to sixth grade.
From there the groups were assigned to different stations within the gym and instructed by their Conq tutors. After 10 minutes had passed, the groups rotated in order to get a taste of the following drill.
Once the kids completed the various exercises (and after warming up with stretching, of course), each group participated in a rousing game of knockout to bring the festivities to a close.
However, the show wasn't over just yet.
With the kids surrounded at midcourt, the men put on a dunking highlight reel for them, who were amazed at how they could fly through the air with such ease.
Trenkle says that hosting a camp is something that seemed to make sense due to his basketball background as a kid.
"When I was a kid I grew up learning how to play the game in camps," Trenkle said. "My whole life my dad ran them and I wanted to give back to the community the most I could, and what better than to bring my team and involve them in this and they were all for it."
Inside the gym, you could tell the players were getting an incredible learning experience from teaching the game to kids who were in the same situation as them just a few years ago, a sentiment shared by Tyshon Pickett.
"It's great to teach them the game of basketball, to show them, like we did when we were younger," Pickett said. "To get them going, so when they get older, they can take bigger steps and learn and they can play college basketball like us."
Teammate Clarence Willard agreed with Pickett, adding that the camp has allowed the team to gel off the court and have some fun with the sport they love.
"It definitely builds chemistry because it brings us all together because in the dorms we don't really have a chance to always hang out," Willard said. "So we do stuff like this to get together and to work with the kids. It makes us like a family."
The money raised from this event will not be poured back into the college to buy uniforms or support road trips. The team, along with coach Trenkle, have decided to take whatever is generated from last night and donate it to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a cause that has big meaning to the head coach.
"It's a foundation that is pretty special to me, growing up, and I had a best friend's little brother pass away and the Make-A-Wish Foundation was very important to his family," Trenkle said. "I've always kind of had it on my mind and it made me think what can my team do to help, so I talked to my guys about it and they were all on-board and I'm pretty excited about it."
Overall, close to 115 kids signed up for the camp and each came away with a shirt, some autographs and a lifetime full of memories.
The scene at 5:30 p.m. inside of the Sheridan Activity Center was a symbol of peace and tranquility.
However, thirty minutes later, the gymnasium would be packed full of tiny hoopsters looking to learn from those who had been in their size three shoes before — not to mention, play a little basketball.
Inside of the chaos of over 100 kids was a basketball camp being held by the Dodge City Community College men's basketball team.
The event was being held in cooperation with the city and the Sheridan Center and had a fantastic turnout for being the first time that the college had hosted a youth camp under the tenure of head coach Brady Trenkle.
The players, who had just completed a two and a half hour practice, were assigned to stations to help teach the kids the basic fundamentals of the sport, whether it be ball-handling, boxing out for a rebound or setting a pick.
Kids were separated into grade categories, from kindergarten up to sixth grade.
From there the groups were assigned to different stations within the gym and instructed by their Conq tutors. After 10 minutes had passed, the groups rotated in order to get a taste of the following drill.
Once the kids completed the various exercises (and after warming up with stretching, of course), each group participated in a rousing game of knockout to bring the festivities to a close.
However, the show wasn't over just yet.
With the kids surrounded at midcourt, the men put on a dunking highlight reel for them, who were amazed at how they could fly through the air with such ease.
Trenkle says that hosting a camp is something that seemed to make sense due to his basketball background as a kid.
"When I was a kid I grew up learning how to play the game in camps," Trenkle said. "My whole life my dad ran them and I wanted to give back to the community the most I could, and what better than to bring my team and involve them in this and they were all for it."
Inside the gym, you could tell the players were getting an incredible learning experience from teaching the game to kids who were in the same situation as them just a few years ago, a sentiment shared by Tyshon Pickett.
"It's great to teach them the game of basketball, to show them, like we did when we were younger," Pickett said. "To get them going, so when they get older, they can take bigger steps and learn and they can play college basketball like us."
Teammate Clarence Willard agreed with Pickett, adding that the camp has allowed the team to gel off the court and have some fun with the sport they love.
"It definitely builds chemistry because it brings us all together because in the dorms we don't really have a chance to always hang out," Willard said. "So we do stuff like this to get together and to work with the kids. It makes us like a family."
The money raised from this event will not be poured back into the college to buy uniforms or support road trips. The team, along with coach Trenkle, have decided to take whatever is generated from last night and donate it to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a cause that has big meaning to the head coach.
"It's a foundation that is pretty special to me, growing up, and I had a best friend's little brother pass away and the Make-A-Wish Foundation was very important to his family," Trenkle said. "I've always kind of had it on my mind and it made me think what can my team do to help, so I talked to my guys about it and they were all on-board and I'm pretty excited about it."
Overall, close to 115 kids signed up for the camp and each came away with a shirt, some autographs and a lifetime full of memories.
