Grizzlies Basketball Camp

The Memphis Grizzlies and Lakeland Parks and Recreation put on a youth basketball camp in the church gym where the boys go to preschool and attend summer camp.  We decided to sign Jack up to introduce him to the sport.  The ages were 5-11 and he was one week shy of turning 5, so he was one of the youngest if not the youngest there.  At first I was a little unsure if we did the right thing.  We had never worked with Jack on basketball at all.  The first thing they would do each day was play around and it broke my heart to see my little boy walk around the gym trying to find a place to fit in.  He didn't know a soul there.  One sweet boy invited him to play with him and a few others and that's all it took. 

The first day Jack wore his Zach Randolph Grizzlies jersey.  When he got home that day he told me he wanted me to wash it every night, so he could wear it every day.  Well, the second day he wore it, but that night declared he wanted to wear something different the rest of the week.  You see Zach's nickname is Zeebo and all of the coaches started referring to Jack as Zeebo.  He wasn't too sure of that, so while he did change his attire, that didn't change a thing with the coaches as they continued calling him Zeebo all week.  

Here is a picture of Jack taking a shot the last day of camp.  It's unreal how big the coaches were compared to the kids.  I don't think any of the coaches actually play for the Grizzlies.  Some work for them and others have played overseas professionally.  Jack improved so much.  At the end of camp, he received a Grizzlies practice jersey, basketball and poster.  He's already asked to play this year and go back to that same camp next year.