Sumter High basketball kicks off 2024 with B All In Camp

The Sumter High boys basketball team opened the new year with a classic tradition on Tuesday, hosting their annual B All In Youth Camp.

The Gamecock coaches and players welcomed in a swarm of young athletes as they spent the morning working on skills development, primarily ball-handling, a pizza lunch and an afternoon jam-packed with scrimmages.

"We're excited about it; we're happy that so many people came out," SHS head coach Bryan Brown said of the camp. "We exceeded expectations."

The camp came a little later than normal this season with a busy holiday schedule for Sumter High, but Brown was thrilled to be able to hit the court with some excited campers.

"We've been doing it nine or 10 years now. This year, with schedule conflicts, we weren't able to do it right before Christmas, call it a holiday camp. So, we just changed the name of it to a New Years holiday camp," Brown said. "It was good that we were still able to do it, and we still got a good turnout, so we're happy about it."

Brown and the Gamecocks host two versions of this camp annually. During the summer, the camp is a week when they really have time to focus on varied skill development. In the winter, the camp is just one day, but it still provides a great opportunity to grow on the court. It also allows the Sumter High players to grow as leaders as they work with the next generation of athletes.

"We definitely like getting our team involved. They get so excited about it. Today was probably some of the best energy I've seen in all of the years of the camp. They were talking about it in practice yesterday, what age level they were going to get. Just seeing how excited they get about it means a lot to me," Brown said. "I think that's the most important part of it for me is they look forward to it, they love giving back, they love giving their time and energy to the kids.

"Most of those guys came through the camp. They can't wait for their chance to lead and be a camp counselor and switch their roles, transitioning from being a part of a camp to helping us run the camp. All of that stuff is special to me."

Brown also feels it's important for his athletes to see the importance of giving back during the holiday season. The Gamecocks have been busy on the court with tournaments both before and after Christmas, so this was an opportunity to slow down and give back to the Sumter community amid all of the hustle and bustle.

"Just giving back, being in the spirit of giving back and helping them understand that it's bigger than basketball," Brown said. "When we teach them lessons on the court, we deal with being selfish sometimes. These guys work on their craft so much, and they have to understand that it still has to be about team. Those are lessons they have to learn. Sometimes they get caught up in themselves, sometimes they get caught up in trying to produce.

When you care about how your teammate is doing, when you care about how your neighbor in the community is doing, when you care about the kid that's in middle school, it's going to help you in life, and the universe normally gives it back to you in a different way. We teach those lessons to our guys as it pertains to basketball, too. To be willing to give back and care about your teammates, care about their happiness, care about their success, it also helps you bring success to yourself."