36 campers grades 3rd thru 8th enjoy learning from high school players, coaches and one guest instructor
By Jim Beers
CHESTER – The Chester High School Boys Basketball Team held its annual basketball camp Wednesday through Friday June 12-14 at the Chester Grade School. This year’s event took place from 9:00 A.M. till 12 Noon each day.
Head Basketball Coach, Chris Toledo, led the camp with assistance from Nick Severs, Assistant Coach and many of the current YellowJacket Boys Basketball Players. On most days there were as many as 20 YellowJacket players on hand to help lead the young campers.
The daily camp was divided into two sessions based the on the age and pre-camp skills of the campers. Session I began at 9:00 A.M and concluded at 10:15 A.M. and included incoming 3rd through 5th graders. Session II began at 10:30 P.M. and lasted until 12 Noon and featured campers entering 6th through 8th graders.
Sessions were designed to the age and skill level of campers and included primarily fundamental skill development. Coach Toledo said, “Most of the sessions concentrated on skill development. We worked on shooting, passing, dribbling, foot work and many basic principles of basketball.”
“Our incoming freshmen through senior basketball players did a great job of assisting us by demonstrating the various skill sets and really helped lead the young, impressionable campers in skills and drills throughout the week.”
On Thursday, campers received a special treat of being taught by former Chester resident and excellent all-around athlete, Jimmy Corrona. Coach Corrona played basketball as a Chester athlete, and went on to play at the collegiate level.
After graduating college he coached and taught at grade school, high school, and collegiate levels after which he worked at the NBA level helping to promote basketball both here in America and across the world.
Coach Corrona currently organizes and runs various shooting clinics and basketball camps across the United States and has consulted basketball coaches at all levels. The 2024 CHS Summer Basketball Camp Shooting Clinic was a highlight of the young campers’ week.
Campers received excellent instruction throughout the three-day camp and learned a lot about basketball from coaches, the high school players and outside sources on a daily basis. In addition to skill instruction, each player received an official 2024 CHS Boys Basketball T-shirt and plenty of positive skill, attitude and personal confidence reinforcement.
There were a total of 35 boys and one very brave and talented young lady that attended the 2024 summer camp for a total of 36 campers.
Session I featured 16 campers including four 3rd graders, six 4th graders, and six 5th graders. Session II boasted 19 campers including eight 6th graders, four 7th graders, and seven 8th graders. Campers are listed below:
SESSION I
3rd Grade Campers
Cole Crawford
Decklin Forsting
Gavin Gross
Karson Hecht
Note: The young lady camper was Maren Jany, daughter of Zach and Stephanie Jany. She will be a 3rd Grader at St. Mary’s Catholic School. Even though she was not an official registered camper, she participated and did a fantastic job of keeping up with the 35 boys.
4th Grade Campers
Jayden Fernandez
Xander Hammel
Grayson McCoy
Will Petrowske
Jase Tindall
Toby Tindall
5th Grade Campers
Billy Allison
Evan Bargman
Connor Draves
Caleb Gross
Ryder Le Guenel
Cash Hargis
SESSION II
6th Grade Campers
Josiah Bert
Kael Gartner
Mason Howie
Connor Long
Blake Petrowske
Gavin Studt
Max Watson
Branden Yankee
7th Grade Campers
Hunter Brunkhorst
Jake Dunn
Jaxon Hanna
Jason Stumpe
8th Grade Campers
Duncan Bargman
Preston Liefer
Austin Partin
Reed Petrowske
Ty Tindall
Cannon Wolff
Jack Luthy
The camp was considered to be a great success based upon the demonstrated improvement in the skills of the campers, the enjoyment seen in the camper’s eyes and interactions, and the enthusiasm that was apparent each day as the campers arrived and participated in camp activities.
Shown here are the campers in Session I of the 2024 YellowJacket Basketball Camp held Wednesday thru Friday June 12-14. Session I included 16 campers and one young lady guest camper. Grades 3-5 were represented in Session I from 9-10:15 A.M.. In the back row are 20 Chester High School Basketball players who helped with the camp. In the front are campers. Grade 3 includes (in no particular order) Cole Crawford, Decklin Forsting, Gavin Gross, Karson Hecht, and Maren Jany. 4th Graders include Jayden Fernandez, Xander Hammel, Grayson McCoy, Will Petrowske, Jase Tindall, and Toby Tindall, 5th Graders included Billy Allison, Evan Bargman, Connor Draves, Caleb Gross, Ryder Le Guenel, and Cash Hargis. Jim Beers Photo
Will Petrowske and Cole Crawford run a fast break drill in Session I of the YellowJacket Basketball Camp. Session I featured campers in grades 3rd through 5th. Supervising this particular drill is CHS Senior Basketball player, Evan Dunning. Jim Beers Photo
St. Mary’s 3rd Grader, Maren Jany, drives to the basket and lays in a shot in a dribble-shooting drill in Session I of the 2024 YellowJacket Basketball Camp. Jany is the daughter of Zach and Stephanie Jany of Chester. Daughter Maren was the lone girl at the camp and held her own in daily drills and skills activities. CHS Senior YellowJacket Basketball player is supervising this drill. Jim Beers Photo
Pictured is the Session II Group of the 2024 CHS YellowJacket Basketball Camp. Session II featured campers in 6th thru 8th Grades. In the back row are members of the CHS Boys Basketball Team who assisted with the camp. In the front row, kneeling are the campers including (in no particular order) Grade 6: Josiah Bert, Kael Gartner, Mason Howie, Connor Long, Blake Petrowske, Gavin Studt, Max Watson, and Branden Yankee. Grade 7: Hunter Brunkhorst, Jake Dunn, Jaxon Hanna, and Jason Stumpe. Grade 8: Duncan Bargman, Preston Liefer, Austin Partin, Reed Petrowske, Ty Tindall, Cannon Wolff, and Jack Luthy. Jim Beers Photo
Campers in Session II, 6th thru 8th Grades work on shooting skills as directed by Head Coach Chris Toledo and the CHS YellowJacket Basketball players. Jim Beers Photo
Campers in Session II of the 2024 YellowJacket Basketball Camp run dribble drills and ball-handling drills as directed by CHS Head Coach, Chris Toledo. Jim Beers Photo
Chester Grade School 7th Grader Hunter Brunkhorst works on his shooting skills at the 2024 CHS Basketball Camp. The event took place Wednesday Thursday, and Friday June 12-14, and featured a total of 36 campers. Jim Beers Photo
Chester High School Boys Basketball Head Coach, Chris Toledo demonstrates proper shooting form in a drill for Session II, Grades 6th, 7th, and 8th. Toledo was refreshing shooting skills that were taught the day before by special guest instructor, Jimmy Corrona, a former YellowJacket Basketball player who went on to play in college. For more than five decades Corrona has taught and coached basketball at all levels, including for the NBA in teaching basketball skills across America and overseas. Jim Beers Photo
Pictured are 20 Chester High School Boys Basketball players who assisted Head Coach Chris Toledo and Assistant Coach Nick Severs with the 2024 CHS YellowJacket Basketball Camp. Jim Beers Photo