About 175 Stettler and area kids attended the 18th annual Camp Teckla at the Stettler Schools Complex from June 30 to July 4.
The camp began as a memorial for Teckla Anderson, an avid basketball player who attended Halkirk School and then William E. Hay. After she was killed in a car accident in 1997, her grandparents decided to set up a basketball camp so that young athletes could benefit from sports, instead of just creating an individual scholarship in her memory.
“Basketball was one of Teckla’s favourite sports,” said coach Leighann Doan Reimer. “I played basketball with her in Grade 9 and she was in Grade 12. We have a common interest and it was something that she loved to do.”
The camp is for kids from grades 1 to 12. Grades 1 to 3 attend camp for 2 hours for three days, and grades 4 to 12 attend for half a day for five days.
Participants in the camp learn the fundamentals of basketball, and get to implement those new skills during scrimmages. But the camp isn’t all about learning new skills.
“They have fun, meet new people, hopefully they learn about a few things, but more importantly, they come and enjoy a week of being active, and take that further in life and continue to be active,” Doan Reimer said.
For the younger kids, learning to dribble is one of the biggest skills they acquire alongside the basics of proper shooting technique.
“I try to teach them a little bit about their shots,” she said. “When they get older they kind of know the basics of it so they don’t form bad habits right from a young age.”
Doan Reimer said that she thinks it’s important to just get the kids out and push them to be competitive.
“Anybody can do it, so just get out and run.”