Parks & Rec’s Basketball Club will ‘educate and empower’ kids on the court

COVINGTON, Ky. – If you’re going to grow up to sink ’em like the NBA’s Jordan Poole or the WNBA’s Elena Delle Donne, you have to start with a solid foundation of basketball know-how.

For Covington kids between the ages of 6 and 14, one place to learn and hone those skills is the City’s Parks & Rec Department’s Covington Basketball Club.

Instruction on dribbling, shooting, passing, and more takes place in two sessions: July 29 at Eastside’s Randolph Park, (which just got a new coat of paint), and Aug. 5 at West Latonia’s Barb Cook Park. Both sessions run from noon to 2 p.m.

The Covington Basketball Club is FREE and will feature instruction from students and basketball players from Holy Cross High School.

“The whole point of it is to educate,” said Tyler Wilson, Parks & Rec’s Recreational Program coordinator. “We want to have them passing, dribbling, and shooting, and then add new abilities. Instead of having teams, we’ll just do drills with them.”

Wilson said the goal is to have the club be a friendly competition rather than competitive. Instructors will take into account both the age ranges and the skill levels of the youth who are participating.

The game plan for each session is to open with an “ice breaker introduction”; play a little game of H.O.R.S.E. or “Knockout"; learn the basic skills of dribbling, passing, and defending; and end the afternoon with a scrimmage.

“This is for all skill levels,” Wilson said. “Our overall goal is to empower and educate the kids who love basketball. We want everyone, no matter how much or little they play, to feel welcome.”

Aspiring MVPs can register online at the City of Covington Parks & Rec’s “recdesk,” Covington Basketball club registration.

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