The Iowa Western Women’s Basketball program recently conducted a highly successful two-day Girls Basketball Boot Camp on campus at the Kanesville Arena. The boot camp was conducted by Head Coach Jim Turgeon, his assistant coach, Lindsey Vande Hoef, and members of the 2009-2010 Lady Reiver basketball team. The two-day camp was specifically designed for those players, grades 5th - 8th, in the area who aspire to become good basketball players.

“It wasn’t going to be all contest and games during our sessions,” Commented Head Coach Jim Turgeon. “We wanted these campers to get ready for their upcoming basketball seasons and we planned on working them out hard.”

Coach Turgeon kicked off the boot camp talking to the campers about "what it takes" to play the game. The camp was designed to focus on teaching the fundamentals of the game. Pictured below are the campers performing a two-ball dribbling drill with a partner.

Along with the ball handling, the camp included drills for passing and shooting. The girls below are getting lots of repetitions in during a shooting drill with Coach Turgeon.

Teaching good defensive skills was another goal Coach Turgeon and his Lady Reivers had in mind for the young campers. "It is important that these players learn good defense early. We were able to do some defensive drills we do during our practices."  This gave the campers an opportunity to show off their quick feet and defensive stance.

With nearly 30 participants during the two-day boot camp, Turgeon was pleased with the turnout. “This is our first year running this type of camp during our season.” He mentioned. “We plan to continue to reach out and work with the young rising stars in the community to help give back.”

"Our players had a great experience helping out with these young players," Coach Turgeon commented. "We had a tremendous turnout from the Lewis Central School and hope more schools in the area with want to get involved in our future camps."