Coming from as far away as Charlotte, N.C., more than 35 youths
participated in the Adonal Foyle Athletics and Academics camp last
Thursday and Friday.
With guest speakers, inspirational videos, hours of basketball,
and starring a veteran NBA player, the camp stressed the importance
of education.
By Paul Doherty Staff writer
Morgan Hill – Coming from as far away as Charlotte, N.C., more than 35 youths participated in the Adonal Foyle Athletics and Academics camp last Thursday and Friday.
With guest speakers, inspirational videos, hours of basketball, and starring a veteran NBA player, the camp stressed the importance of education.
Camp director Michael DeGrazia, from Dublin, Calif., kept the pace going.
“We want to make sure that the kids are learning and having fun,” DeGrazia said. “We try to entertain and educate as well as work on basketball skills so the kids can learn and become better players.”
As part of the educational aspect of the camp, participants listened to guest speakers Roy Byrd and Timi Wussu, and watched a film on Michael Jordan.
Byrd, who travelled the world as a Harlem Globetrotter, spoke to the kids on Thursday about his experiences in school and on the court, focusing on education.
“You really can mold kids’ minds and get them to do what you want,” Byrd said. “So I stressed the importance of getting an education before trying to become a pro athlete.”
On Friday, former Stanford linebacker Timi Wusu spoke to the campers about getting good grades, as well as his experiences at Stanford.
“What are you going to do when you’re 35?” Wusu asked the campers. “You have to have another passion besides just sports because your body won’t last forever, and you’ll have to have something else to get along.
“Getting good grades isn’t hard to do,” he said. “Doing your homework is the most important thing because it makes up over half your grade, plus everything in the homework will be on the test. So if you just do your homework, you’ll be able to do well on the tests, and you will get good grades … it really is as simple as that.”
Besides being one of Stanford’s top defensive special teams players, Wusu is a human biology major at Stanford, and wants to go to medical school and become a doctor.
Gilroy resident and camp counselor Larry Green has known Foyle since playing against him for the Naval Academy, and was asked by Foyle to help him set up the camp in Morgan Hill.
“I am more than happy to help,” Green said. “A lot of other camps don’t emphasize the academic component, which is just as important as athletics.”
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Green, and other camp organizers are already looking into having the camp in Morgan Hill again next summer because the community has been so great, Green said.
When asked by Wusu what else they enjoyed besides basketball, the campers fell momentarily quiet until camper Michael Williams spoke up.
“I like to write and I want to be a writer one day,” Williams, 8, answered.
Williams and sister Mychaela, 12, who also attended the camp, are on vacation from Charlotte, N.C., visiting family in Gilroy.
“I really like creative writing,” Michael said. “I first started with writing essays and my teacher told me I did really good.”
Mychaela didn’t even know who Adonal Foyle was before coming to California but said that talking to him was the best part of the camp.
Camper Victoria Hattick, 12, is starting seventh grade at Britton Middle School next fall, and plays basketball for the South County Basketball Association.
“I wanted to come because there’s a famous person involved,” Hattick said jokingly. “Really though I came to the camp because my brother wanted to come, but also because I love basketball.
Hattick said she has learned how to get open on offense, how to play better defense, and has improved dribbling skills with her left hand.
While the majority of the campers are from Morgan Hill, there are also campers from Gilroy and Hollister, among other places.
Anchor Point Christian School sophomore Jon Wylie, 15, from Gilroy enjoyed the competitive games at the camp, as well as learning from the counselors.
“I came to stay in shape for the basketball season, get a good workout, and learn the fundamentals from people who played college and pro ball,” Wylie said.
While Adonal Foyle was unable to attend the last part of the camp because of a burst appendix, his counselors and director kept things going.
With scrimmages in full effect at the end of the day, campers happily played on without much notice of Foyle’s absence.
“No matter what happens we want to have a good time and get our name out there, because this camp is all about education and athletics,” DeGrazia said.
