Hosting two separate days of summer basketball youth clinics, several dozen area youngsters got a well-rounded introduction to the sport.

Clinic days were Wednesday, July 6 and Wednesday, July 13, said Escalon varsity head boys’ basketball coach Nate Bartelink.

“Each session for each age group lasted two hours. We had two separate age groups, incoming third through fifth graders and incoming sixth through eighth graders,” Bartelink explained. “There were 67 total participants, with 50 of them taking part in both days.”

The clinics were run by the Escalon High School boys basketball coaching staff, as well as members of the EHS varsity boys’ and girls’ basketball teams.

“I’m very appreciative of the high school players for giving of their time to help out. We focused on introducing basic fundamental skills and equipping the kids with drills that they can do on their own to help them build good habits,” Bartelink added. “We tried to make the clinics fun for the kids by integrating games and competitions throughout the sessions.”

Among the well-received ideas, Bartelink said they awarded “campers of the day” at each station to help reinforce good behaviors such as giving their best effort, being good listeners and being coachable.

“I thought the clinics went well for our first attempt. We plan on periodically hosting additional clinics moving forward; possibly another one this fall,” he noted. “I’d like to thank those families that signed up their children and hope to see the same kids all come back to our next clinic to continue developing as basketball players.”