The Women of Valour basketball team at one of the summer camps they attended in South Florida last month

Eleven young women representing the Women of Valour basketball team, along with their coach Redver Ebanks and officials Debra Smith and Ray Doxey, participated in a series of summer training camps in South Florida from 2-11 August.

The group’s first camp was held over two days on 3-4 August at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida with Coach Freeland, Coach Kohlhiem and members of the Ladies Sharks staff. It was the visiting group’s second training session with The Sharks Hoop School, which has shown promising results for the players in new skills and the exposure to lots of other players from the Florida area and the Nova coaching staff.

The Women of Valour team ahs been invited back to attend other sessions and to attend games during this next season. For some of the older players, there is positive interest in their continued development over the next year.

Another training camp was held at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach. The girls practiced and did various pickup games with some local teams, then did a three-day elite skills and development camp with the PBAU Sailfish staff and Gannon Baker — a semi pro training and development coach for basketball. During these full-day sessions the girls also learned exercise methods to help them prevent various sports-related injuries, which are prevalent in woman athletes. Out of this camp, one player was offered a scholarship and there was positive interest in other players.

To cap off the trip, the team was invited to take part in the Bill Tome Summer Basketball Classic, sponsored by the Boynton Beach Recreation Department at the Ezell Hester Jr. Community Center. This classic included male and female teams from the Palm Beach County and New York City area. This was an intense series, which should be very beneficial for the local team as they learn how to play away from their home court.

The Boynton Beach Recreation Specialist Joe Evans is keen to have the Women of Valour team return in the future and there are also prospects for teams to visit Cayman.

Coach Redver has worked hard to develop relationships with the different schools, coaches and organisations in the US to provide greater opportunities, including scholarships for local basketball players.

Next on the calendar is the Nike Show-n- Prove individual showcase (part of roundball academy) at PBAU, to be held 28-29 September. Top scouts and coaches of various colleges from around the US attend this event and last year two Caymanian players attended the event, with one receiving a letter of interest from Penn State University.

The group thanked all the people who supported the young women at their various bake sales and fundraising activities. Supporters include Domino’s Pizza, Agave Grill, Joel Jefferson, Ervin Horvath, Andy Stepaniuk and Phil Michael, who have always shown support for the young women and their further development.

Most squad members are part of the Welly’s Cool Spot team that won the Cayman Islands Basketball Association 2013 National Women’s League crown.

Guiding the ladies was Redver Ebanks, Welly’s head coach and the Women of Valour founder, who says his girls havel made great strides.

Nova Southeastern, based in Fort Lauderdale, compete in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletics Association. The Cayman girls took part in phase one of the Sharks camp back in June. Ray Doxey served as one of the trip organisers and said it went well.