Youngsters begin year with fun activities at center

First and second graders are starting off the new year by getting active at the Cheyenne County Community Center.

About 60 kids turned out this year to participate in the annual First and Second Grade Basketball Skills Camp at the center.

Community Center Sports Director Kasey Kantor, who serves as coordinator of the event, said that he believes the skills camp was started about six years ago by Jody O’Connell and has been helping young kids edge their way into the game of basketball ever since.

“Jody started it because when her son came through she realized that there really wasn’t much at the center for little kids to participate in. So she decided to start a fun skills camp for them,” Kantor said.

The skills camp occurs at the community center every Tuesday and Thursday through the month of January and runs in 45-minute intervals. Girls’ skills camp runs from 3:45 to 4:30 p.m. and boys’ from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m., Kantor said.

Kantor said that during the camp children learn the basic skills of the game such as dribbling, passing and a little bit of shooting.

“We have a lot of fun during the camp,” Kantor said. “I try and make them laugh and we do relay races and stuff like that.”

Kantor, who has been coordinating the event for the past three years, said that sign-ups for the camp are usually in December, however he won’t turn any kids away as the camp progresses in January.

“With this first and second grade camp I never turn kids away so it’s kind of open all the time,” Kantor said.

To enroll a child into the camp costs $25 dollars and the best way to sign up is to do so at the community center where sports brochures are located, he said.

Kantor said information and schedules for both youth and adult sports can also be found on the Cheyenne County Community Center website.

He said that this camp really helps get kids active at a young age.

“Sidney seems to be a really athletic town. This is a way to get them started early and really gives the kids something to do instead of video games or texting,” Kantor said. “The earlier we can get them active the better. You don’t see kids out playing as much as you use to.”

Kantor said that he believes that sports can be very beneficial to a child’s personal growth.

“Seeing these kids be active at such a young age is nice. I believe sports can make you a person better. You learn responsibility, you learn to listen to your coaches and you learn to respect the refs. I really think sports is a good teacher for kids,” Kantor said.