Development comes first

Youth basketball program aims to mold student-athletes

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At the YMCA-run Durango Hills Community Center Basketball Academy, game skills are only part of what the children are learning.

The Academy of Academics and Sports is making schoolwork a main focus.

"I know when I was coming up, my coach taught me that you're a student-athlete, not an athlete-student," said Robert Smith, a former UNLV basketball player and the assistant sports director at the Bill & Lillie Heinrich YMCA.

The participating boys and girls in grades 2-12 must bring their grades to the academy, 3521 N. Durango Drive, twice a month.

Smith said the program follows the same guidelines for athletes as the school district -- students need to keep their grades up in order to play.

"Fundamentally a program like this is needed," he said. "Everybody has a sports program. We incorporate education, too."

Smith and a group of professionals are taking an academic approach in teaching the skills of basketball as well. They focus on everything from fundamentals to advanced game execution, including ball handling, passing, rhythm and timing.

"I've always looked at sports as a study session," Smith said. "The knowledge of the game is the most important."

Smith said that some kids get into leagues and don't understand the fundamentals of the sport. Once children understand, it makes the game easier.

At the academy, youth are split into groups based on age and skill level. Many participants have never played the game and some are trying to make it onto a school team.

Along with Smith, who played basketball for UNLV from 1974 through 1977, the children learn skills from former NBA player Sam Smith, former WNBA player and coach Laurie Byrd, former Georgetown University coach Clark Adams and conditioning coach Avon Butler.

Robert Smith said the academy also will bring in non-sports professionals to teach the children they need more than sports to be successful.

"It's important to catch them when they are young," Byrd said. "They have better self-esteem and are better prepared for the peer pressure that comes during their teenage years."

Each session ends with a competition between the participants.

"It's good to see that competitive spirit come out," Smith said.

The academy is held from 5 to 6 p.m. every Wednesday at the Durango Hills Community Center, and from 5 to 6 :30 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday at the Heinrich YMCA, 4141 Meadows Lane.

For more information on either location call 877-7232.