Ode to the CDBA.....

[GoatCow#1]

***This was sent to me from Doug Clore, Father of David Clore. The Clore's are from St. Joseph and David has been a CDBA "family" member since 2002.

To potential Camp Darryl Parents and players:

If you play for Camp Darryl, you WILL get the opportunity to play in front of college coaches. From Community college all the way to Tom Izzo. JC, NAIA, DIII, DII, DI. My son David and I saw them at the events and tournaments that we played with Camp Darryl. Because of NCAA recruiting rules, they can?t always go to every tournament, but they will be at more than a few.

If you try out and get cut, keep your head up. There are lots of kids trying out, and many of them started varsity on good teams, so you?re not getting beat by a bunch of slackers.

If you?re offered a spot but aren?t sure about the choice or the commitment, only you can make the decision (it?s a family commitment), but I can tell you that it worked out for us, and I?ll tell you our story.

Everyone?s Camp D experience is a little different, but here?s ours.

Our first year of Travel ball (after 7th grade), we played for the Courthouse 13U team. Mark Veenstra was our coach, and our team had kids from Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Mattawan, and SJ. When 14U tryouts came around, there weren?t enough players to form a team and it was past most team?s tryout date. On the advice of a friend, I called Darryl and asked if we could tryout late. He graciously agreed, and David played 14U with one of Camp D?s two 14U teams. The next year, Darryl wanted to move David up to the 16U (skipping 15U) so we did. David was not a key scorer on that team, he rebounded, set picks, played defense, did whatever he could, but played good competition and learned a lot. The next season, we asked if David could repeat at 16U rather than play at 17U, as we thought he could contribute more, AND because I wanted him to get back to scoring a little more going into his JR year of school ball. We had a nice year. Last year we finished up with a good 17U team, and a connection was made between a college and David. I saw David?s future College coach attending at least four tournaments, notebook in hand, and sometimes an assistant by his side. They had several kids to watch, but they saw David in probably 10-15 games or more. We would never have hooked up with this coach at HS.

17U gets the most attention from coaches. It is difficult competition, and there are some great 16U and even 15U that move up, there are also some prep school prospects on other teams (already graduated) and more than a few academic non-qualifiers (also on other teams) on the teams we play. 16U may build the most confidence and learn the most. 15U is still sorting out who will be playing and who won?t in the next few years. 14U, you should still be having fun, it?s more like extended middle school ball than HS.

I have enjoyed getting to know other parents and especially Darryl, I love to see him around the state at his players school events. He is an enthusiastic and knowledgable coach who goes beyond the call of duty for his players. There were a few times when I didn?t agree with Darryl, and a few times I acted like the stereotypical foolish sports parent, but we got through that, and I look forward to seeing him at college events next year. Thankyou Darryl and all the players and parents who made Camp D great experience that we are already missing.

[GoatCow#1]

.....I like the message in this post. "...there were a few times when I didn't agree with Darryl....but we got through that...."

It's just been one weekend. We have several more to go. You have NO IDEA what in store for us in Akron if you thought that the Storm Classic was tough!
I was around the 17's the most, but it was like their 3rd game before the guys really started to click/get to know each other. Things aren't going to go great at the start. More than half of the players had never experienced a weekend like this.

We'll be fine! To borrow a quote from a famous sign in a lockerroom of a team that I don't particularly care for..... "THOSE WHO STAY WILL BECOME CHAMPIONS..." What this means in the CDBA perspective is not a Championship in a weekend tournament, but a Champion in regards to social growth. You're getting to know guys from different backgrounds and so on.

We'll be "back in the lab" on Wednesday night. Working on things to get ready for Akron.....

-Darryl
If anyone has any questions regarding this, feel free to CALL me(269-217-6498).

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ April 25, 2006 02:23 PM: Message edited by: GoatCow#1 ]</font>