PRINCE GEORGE – The UNBC Timberwolves hosted their summer camps this week, which featured basketball, volleyball and multi-sport for local youth.
These camps typically run annually, however, last year’s camps were cancelled due to the pandemic.
With such a long hiatus, all the kids were eagerly awaiting their return.
“We ran a camp earlier that was socially distanced, so we were six feet apart with all our drills,” says Tyrell Laing, Coach at the Camp. “The kids were chomping at the bit, waiting to get at it, so we were just happy to give them that opportunity.”
For Tyrell, he is entering his fifth and final year as a Timberwolf, so this will be the final year that he is able to teach at the camp as a player. This year will also be special, as it is the first time ever he will be coaching with his younger brother Cole.
“It’s super special, especially bringing along my brother,” says Tyrell. “He’s going into his senior year of high school and hopefully going to somewhat follow in my footsteps in terms of just teaching the game and passing along some knowledge, so super grateful to have that opportunity with him.”
Along with seeing his brother teach the next generation of Twolves, Tyrell is also remembering a time that he and his brother were in the same shoes as these young kids.
“Everything comes full circle. I had Timberwolves teaching me and then I’m now teaching some of the youth and I think that with my brother, it’s just another example of that. I kind of showed him the ropes and now he’s able to teach younger people the game as well.”
For Tyrell, this opportunity was so important to him, because he knows how much these sorts of camps affected him and his brother into who they are today.
“It’s amazing honestly, just having the opportunity to share the game because that’s what happened to me as a young kid,” says Tyrell. “I had people share their knowledge with me and a lot of the words, even though at the time I’m sure the people teaching me didn’t know that they were so meaningful and so impactful. I think every little interaction with the kids is super important and super special.”
And Cole knows how much his brother has taught him and how much he can therefore teach these kids.
“It’s nice to teach with my brother because we kind of both know what to look for and what to teach these kids because we both did this growing up,” says Cole Laing, Coach at the Camp. “He’s taught me a lot and I appreciate that from him. Now I get to teach it to these kids and it’s nice. I know a lot about basketball because of him, so I’m just giving to these little kids.”
