By Dan Messerschmidt
CCN Sports Director
BUCYRUS — Summertime means hot dogs at cookouts, swimming, family vacations — and basketball?
That may sound strange to those not familiar with high school basketball. But hoops coaches — whether heading up a successful program or trying to build one — know that summer work is vital to improvement of any team.
“Summer has always been important,” Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon said. “We had 60 kids in grades 2-6 in camp here. We had 30 seventh-and-eighth graders, three days here and 3 days away. I get to spend time with them in the summer that I can’t during the season. You build relationships. That’s our future.”
In Sheldon’s 12 years at the Eagles’ helm, they have been to seven district finals and three regional tournaments along with winning several league titles. So, he knows whereof he speaks.
However, second-year Bucyrus coach Justin Mattix is no less committed to the benefits of summer basketball as he works to rebuild a stagnant Redmen program.
“Summer is the best time,” Mattix said. “What you do between the end of school and when school starts up again dictates what you will do in the season.”
The Bucyrus varsity went to Bluffton University for a one-day shootout in early June and they scrimmaged at Port Clinton twice.
“The jayvees went to Findlay for two days,” Mattix said. “Unfortunately, the varsity couldn’t go too. But the jayvees got to play against some bigger schools. The freshmen wen to Kenyon and played pretty well down there.”
Colonel Crawford’s varsity and jayvees were also busy in June. For starters, the Eagles went to Eastern Ohio camp in Sherrodsville for three days, referred to by players and coaches alike as Basketball Boot Camp.
“We like Eastern Ohio,” Sheldon said. “It’s a grind. You play from 8 in the morning until 9 at night. You need mental toughness as well as physical. We have really enjoyed our time there and it’s made our kids better.”
The Eagles also went to the Wheeling Shootout for two days and played two days at Ontario.
“We’re only allowed 10 (coaching contact) days in June and July,” Sheldon said. “We only do ours in June. After that, they lift (weights) and shoot on their own.”
“Every shootout is very important,” Mattix said. “You get to see teams you won’t see in the regular season.”
Both coaches like summer camps, not only for the basketball, but the camaraderie that it fosters among teammates.
“I really like the camps,” Mattix said. “Every sport does something like this. We just want to get away and let our teams build some chemistry on and off the court.”
“We mix in a lot of kids at camps,” Sheldon said. “We see who can play and start to build chemistry to see what you’ll have come November.”
Though camps and shootouts are over, the offseason work continues.
“Our dead period is the first week of July,” Mattix said. “We’re completely redoing the gym floor, which is a good thing, it really needed it.
“But we’re trying to something to motivate them,” Mattix continued. “Some are intrinsically motivated, some need to see why they need to work. Our goal is for each player to shoot 10,000 shots in the summer. That’s good, 15,000 is great and 20,000 is over and above. Everyone is on pace for at least 10,000.”
“We don’t have a scheduled dead period,” Sheldon said. “We know that kids will miss here and there. We just don’t want them to sit at home. We only ask for 10 days of them. But the gym is open to them all summer.”
Suffice to say, basketball is more than a November-to-March sport. Those who take it seriously use the offseason to their advantage.