There is a basketball camp in Chinook this weekend that will be run by two college players who are looking to truly make kids better and do it at a fair price. Former Sugarbeeters standout Ethan Bell will put on “Hoopers On The Hi-Line” and will co-coach alongside current MSU-Northern Skylights signee and Forsyth native Becky Melcher.
The pair met while playing at Miles City Community College before transferring; Becky to Northern and Ethan to Crowley’s Ridge College in Arkansas. Melcher participated in the MSU-Northern Skylights basketball camp earlier this summer and saw a lot of enrollments from Chinook. She inquired to the girls if they would like to have a camp of their own and the rest was history.
“We just want to give back to these local kids,” Melcher said. “I had the pleasure of coaching some Chinook girls during the Northern basketball camp and I asked them, ‘What do you guys think of a camp over in Chinook?’ We got a great response.”
“When Ethan and I talked it over, we just thought, ‘Hey, let’s share it with these local kids because there’s just not much going on on the Hi-Line for them’,” Melcher continued. “I know Ethan has told me that growing up, he wanted to have something like that.”
“We’re hoping to be that camp that kids can look forward to,” Melcher said.
One of the ways that this basketball camp stands out compared to ones of the past is pricing. For $30 a day or $70 for three days, campers can be instructed by these two individuals. Bell reminisced about how his mom would have to dish out thousands of dollars for basketball camps over the summer and how that mindset motivated him to be in a position where he could give back at a much lesser price for families.
“I remember my mom (was) spending thousands of dollars in the summer just to send me and (my brother) Isaac to basketball camps across the state,” Bell said. “Ending up seeing the stress that that put on her, knowing that there are other families out there who can’t afford to send their kids to camp that are costing over $500 and just knowing the financial struggles that those parents are dealing with.”
“For Becky and me to bring this opportunity back to the Hi-Line at an affordable price, we’re beyond thankful and blessed,” Bell continued.
With the combined experience that Melcher and Bell have on the hardwood, they game planned for how they wanted to execute the perfect camp.
“I think the biggest thing is that we are going to push these kids to a level that they haven’t maybe been pushed to before,” Melcher said. “Our biggest thing is helping them get better and reaching their own potential.”
“Obviously as players, we know that we can show them that level they can get to because we’ve been to that level,” Melcher continued. “We just want to expose them to drills and different things that coaches may not have exposed them to yet.”
“Pretty much what our camp is going to include: skill development training,” Bell said. “We’re going to implement college-level drills.”
“We’re going to go through fast break leagues, 3-on-3 leagues, 5-on-5 leagues, and we’re going to go through a full shooting mechanics evaluation,” Bell continued. “That’s a pretty good idea of what the campers can expect.”
Starting on Friday and running through Sunday, middle school-aged girls will get going from 8am-10am at the Floyd Bowen Gymnasium in Chinook and the middle school boys will follow from 10am-12pm. After a one-hour lunch break, high schoolers going into grades 9-12 will have the chance to showcase their skills from 1-3pm. Email hilinehoopers@gmail.com for more info about the camp or find the flyer on our website HiLineToday.com in the “Scoreboard!” section.
