Basketball Clinic for Pre-Schoolers Underway at Community Center

A basketball clinic for pre-schoolers age 4 to 6 started its second season at the Prince George's Plaza Community Center, which borders University Park, on Tuesday, Sept. 7. The eight-week program, which meets on Tuesdays from 6 to 7 p.m., will go on through Oct. 26.

Troy Hailey, a former basketball player at Montrose Christian High School in Rockville, Maryland and Binghamton University in New York, teaches the class. Hailey has some experience with basketball clinics having attended them when he was in high school and college. He also coached the summer basketball camp help at the community center from June through August.

According to Hailey, the Prince George's Plaza Community Center created the clinic because there is nothing else like it in the county. 

"There are not a lot of programs out there for pre-schoolers," said Hailey. "Kids like sports and the clinic gives them an opportunity to learn fundamental skills of basketball and at the same time learn sportsmanship and teamwork. Those are things that can carry over into any sport and any job."

The clinic now has 10 pre-schoolers and up to 15 kids are allowed to take the class, said Hailey, who is an employee of the community center as well as a non-profit organization called Egos, which provides children with opportunities in sports. 

Parents may sign their children up online or at the center anytime between now and the end of the clinic for just $3, provided they are a county resident. The non-resident fee is $35.

Each session begins with stretching and warm up exercises, explained Hailey. Next on the schedule are passing and ball handling drills. If there is time at the end of the class, the kids are permitted to shoot baskets.

Currently, the children shoot at regulation-height baskets. However, Hailey said that soon there will be shorter baskets available for the kids. Hailey hopes to have the kids playing actual games with the shorter baskets by the end of the clinic. 

The community center also hosts a basketball league for pre-schoolers, which Hailey hopes will see a boost in enrollment due to the clinic. According to Hailey, the goal of the clinic is to teach the kids sportsmanship, teamwork and self-confidence. 

Of course, parents are on hand to watch and encourage their children through this process. Krista Atteberry, a resident of Hyattsville, Maryland and mother of 4-and-a-half-year-old Kai Howarth, said that this is the first year her son has participated in the clinic. According to Atteberry, it was Kai who chose to join the basketball clinic.

"We gave him some options and he chose basketball," she said.

With his sport chosen, Atteberry decided on the clinic at the community center due to its proximity to her home. She also likes the program because it gives her son the opportunity to be physically active and to learn sportsmanship.

"The coach emphasizes team and my son gets involved with helping team members," she said.

She added that Hailey works well with the kids and that her son is excited to attend the sessions.

"He asks about it all week," she said. 

Cheresa Washington's five year old son Nicholas also participates in the class. A resident of Brentwood, Maryland, she said that she learned about the program through a magazine and was given a flyer that described the class while at a town hall meeting. Washington attends every class and has been impressed with her son's coordination.

"I didn't think he had it but I discovered that he does," she said.

As seems to be the consensus among parents, Washington is pleased with Hailey's coaching ability.

"He works well with the kids," she said.

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