The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

Women’s camp assists instructors, campers

The Iowa women’s basketball team wrapped up the second and final day of the 2013 Elite Camp Tuesday In Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The camp participants were all high-school athletes, but they weren’t the only ones in attendance — most of the women’s Hawkeye basketball program joined them, including former and current players. Head coach Lisa Bluder led the drills and stressed that the main purpose of the camp was for the players to get better.

“This is a camp that these kids are trying to go to a university and get an athletics scholarship,” Bluder said. “Hopefully, they can learn from our players and see what it takes to be a Division I basketball player.”

The camp participants shared that attitude on improving as basketball players.

“My main goal is just to get better and learn a lot, so I will be able to take that home and use it to improve,” said Madeline Homoly, a prep junior from Park Hill South High (Kansas City, Mo.).

Camp participants were taken through what it’s like to be a Hawkeye women’s basketball player for a day. The morning started off with stretching and ladder work followed by a trip to the weight room for some squats and resistance training exercises.

The campers then moved to the women’s locker room, where they were shown around the facilities and taken through what it would be like to watch game tape and prepare for an opposing team.

The final stop for the participants was the practice facility, where members of Bluder’s squad took them through various individual and team-oriented drills.  

Many of the Hawkeye players were in unfamiliar territory — they found themselves coaching instead of being coached.

“It’s strange but fun to watch them doing all the running and us yelling at what they should be doing, and now we understand the coaches’ perspective as well,” said Hawkeye guard Theairra Taylor.

Former Hawkeye center Morgan Johnson noted that being on the coaching side of the game can sometimes help them as players, too.

“I think that teaching something is the best way to learn how to do it properly,” she said. “We’re out here correcting girls and showing them things, but it also opens up possibilities to things you’re doing wrong. It can also help to relearn the basics.”

Both Taylor and Johnson said it was easier to coach the players given how close each is in age — something the campers felt was pretty cool, too.

“They are pretty young, and we were young not too long ago, so we have things that they can relate to,” Taylor said. “We know what they get down about and were just there to pick them up when they need that.”

Homoly said, “It’s really neat — my dream is to play college basketball, so it’s really cool to come here, and experience it, and meet all of the coaches. It’s really fun.”

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