2018 NBA Rookie of the Year, and Melbourne-born Philadelphia 76er, Ben Simmons held his second annual basketball camp in August 2018, and offered 20 spots to Helping Hoops children from across our programs. The children relished the opportunity to learn from Ben and some of the best coaches in Melbourne, including David Simmons, Butch Hayes, CJ Bruton, Warrick Giddey and Lester Strong. The event was held at the State Basketball Centre in Wantirna South, and saw over 200 children in total attend. As well as contributing to the 12 coaching stations, Ben held a Q&A session and posed for photos with participants.
When asked by local media about the inclusion of Helping Hoops in the camp, Simmons said,
“It’s been great to give back. Not every kid’s able to come to a camp like this. So as long as I’m able to reach out and help kids and give them the opportunity, one day they can say ‘I went to his camp’ which has been great. I love doing it.”
A highlight of the day was having our children interviewed by Channel 9 for the nightly news. Arek from Helping Hoops Richmond joined Executive Director Adam McKay on camera to speak about the opportunity and what it meant to be part of the camp (video below).
We look forward to working with Ben Simmons and his family more in the future, and want to thank everyone who made the 2018 camp such a great experience.
