A tradition of more than two decades returned to Stettler during the first week of July.
The sound of shoes squeaking on the gymnasium floor and balls bouncing could be heard from the gymnasium of the otherwise deserted William E. Hay Secondary campus.
After being sidelined for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Camp Teckla was able to tip off on July 4 for a full week of youth basketball training.
Celebrating its 25th year, the 2022 edition of the camp is the 24th camp to run due to the two year COVID gap, but that did not keep youth from registering.
Split into morning and afternoon groups, around 160 kids from all over the region descended on Stettler for the week-long camp under the tutelage of head coach Leighann Doan-Reimer.
According to Doan-Reimer, the camp is designed to promote the sport of basketball in Stettler.
“There’s not a lot of camps like this in rural Alberta,” said Doan-Reimer.
The camp allows for youth of all skill level and ability to play and learn.
In its third decade, the camp was started by the grandparents of Teckla Anderson, an avid basketball enthusiast, after their granddaughter was killed in a motor vehicle accident in 1997.
Anderson grew up in Halkirk and attended in high school at William E. Hay. After her death, Anderson’s grandparents set up the camp so many young athletes could take part in the sport instead of just one student benefiting as with a traditional scholarship.
Doan-Reimer and Julie Siemens coordinate the camp every year, a role they took over in 2016 after Anderson’s grandparents decided to step away.
Both Doan-Reimer and Siemens are former team mates of Anderson and they coach alongside several others from around the area who have joined the camp over the years.
Doan-Reimer has served as the head coach of Camp Teckla nearly every year since its inception, except for a couple of years when she was playing basketball professionally overseas.
*With files from the Stettler Independent
