Tariah Brown, right, defends against Syndey Starks during a one-on-one drill at the Farmersville High School youth girls basketball camp on Tuesday, June 9 at Farmersville Arena. Photo by David Wolman / C&S Media
By David Wolman
First-year Farmersville head girls basketball coach LaToya Ellis has spent the last few weeks re-introducing herself to the community where she was a standout guard for the Lady Farmers from 1992-95 before going on to play collegiately for Baylor University.
Ellis took eight players from Farmersville’s junior varsity team to a basketball camp at Southeastern Oklahoma State University from June 3-5, when the Lady Farmers competed against teams with as many as 13 players.
Last week, Ellis introduced herself to younger basketball hopefuls in Farmersville ISD. A total of 38 girls basketball players entering fourth through ninth grades attended a three-day camp at Farmersville Arena on June 9-11.
Dribbling, form shooting, ball handling, rebounding and passing were some of the drills that they worked on, and received instruction from Ellis, assistant coach Makenzie West, and Lady Farmer varsity basketball players Sadee Mathews, Southern Sanders, Kali Phillips, Kenzie Lair and Zoei Simpkins.
“I wanted them to kind of get to know who I am as a coach,” Ellis said. “One of the girls thought I would be mean. I have a friendly personality outside of coaching. They were basically there to learn a few basketball skills and socialize with their friends.”
Ellis added that the older girls also worked on 3-on-2 and 2-on-1 fastbreaks, while the younger campers were most excited about games of Dribble Knockout.
“They wanted to do that all day,” she said. “It was a great experience. The kids seemed like they had a good time. They learned some skills and had a lot of fun.”
There was just as much fun in the air the previous week when more than 90 campers entering fourth through eighth grades participated in a volleyball camp, also held at Farmersville Arena.
The campers received instruction from West, coach Richard Fetty, Lady Farmers head coach Arian May and former Farmersville High School players Reese Fetty, Rendi Fetty, Gracie Campbell and Jenson McTee.
May said the purpose of the camp was for everyone to improve their skills and volleyball IQ, but more importantly getting them excited about the sport. The campers were taught drills and skills they will need as they progress into middle school and eventually high school.
“I think the kids always love the end-of-camp tournament,” she said. “They like getting to show off their new skills and competing.”
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