By Ryan Gierhahn ‘23

In the past, Brother Rice has been known for offering a free-of-charge basketball clinic to grade school players before their season begins. It’s a great way for kids to get back into the basketball groove with football season ending in the next couple weeks.

But with Covid being in the midst of everything these last few years, the program has been unable to hold the event since 2019. It was definitely a big deal to bring it back in 2022.

The clinic was held on Sunday, October 16, at Brother Rice. It was offered to any 5th-8th graders who wanted to attend and improve their skills.

My younger brother Joe, who attended the clinic, enjoyed the learning experience. He said, “It was good playing against and meeting some of the good players from other schools. I had a fun time.”

Players were put through several different stations including ball handling, shooting, passing, post offense, 1v1, and more. After all stations were completed, the kids were split up into teams and ended the clinic with some 3 on 3.

It was also the first chance for new Brother Rice Basketball Head Coach Conte Stamas to connect with the talented young players from around the neighborhood.

Coach Stamas said, “There was a big turnout of about 200 students who were given instruction by our varsity basketball team and staff. It was nice to see, meet, and work with many future Crusaders who were taught the fundamentals of basketball.”

The free clinic was divided into two groups, with 5-6th graders coming from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m., and 7-8th graders from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.. It was a fun experience for the boys to be around a great team and staff, but also for the program to be around such a great group of kids.

Coach Stamas strongly encouraged all those in attendance to come out and see his team play this winter as well, in which he plans to lead the Crusaders to a great season.