PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — The Pride of Peoria Basketball Camp is an annual event that has brought out some of Peoria High School Basketball’s biggest names since its founding in 2011
The four-day camp allows local kids, both boys and girls, to learn how to improve their skills and even pick up some good traits useful outside of the game.
“Not really trying to make a profit, just something to give back to the community. I think that’s something we can do,” said Camp co-founder and Peoria High School basketball coach Daniel Ruffin.
The free camp is presented by the Shaun Livingston Foundation and has been a way for the well-known alumni to give back to the community they came from.
“All of us attended Peoria High School. All of us came up in this building. All of us was born and raised in District 150 in Peoria Public Schools, so we all share a lot in common,” said former camp co-founder and former Indiana University guard A.J Guyton.
Guyton said he values the camp’s ability to foster connections between players from different schools while honing their skills.
“Most of our kids are in the public schools, but a lot of them attend private schools. This is for them to connect with one another, learn from one another, and develop those social skills for when they compete against each other,” said Guyton.
Ruffin agreed, and said that kids learn how to be good teammates while developing skills as players while attending camp.
“In this game, it doesn’t take long to see a change. You might see a kid that doesn’t really play basketball every day, but they come here for four days, and from day one to day four you see a drastic change, said Ruffin.
The camp runs from July 18 to July 21. More information about the free daily event can be found at the camp’s Facebook event site.
