Net Magic Camp teaches children life, basketball skills
From left, Waynesburg sisters Mackayla Rahuba, 9, and Miranda Rahuba, 6, shoot hoops with Shanna Meyers, a Greene County Human Services employee who helps run the annual Net MAGIC basketball camp, which began Monday.
From left, Miranda Rahuba, 6, and Mackayla Rahuba, 9, Waynesburg sisters, shoot hoops Monday afternoon during the Net MAGIC basketball camp.
From left, Shanna Meyers, of Greene County Human Services, Alexa Lagos, 8, of Waynesburg, Miranda Rahuba, 6, and her sister Mackayla Rahuba, 9, of Waynesburg, and George Lagos, of Human Services, play basketball during the first day of the annual Net MAGIC basketball camp held at First Assembly of God in Eastview.
WAYNESBURG – A free basketball camp for Greene County children kicked off Monday, with a lower turnout than usual, but organizers are hoping to boost numbers over the next two weeks.
The purpose of the camp, which is for children ages 6 to 16, is in its name – Net MAGIC – which stands for “Making a Great Impact Collectively.” The camp was started about 15 years ago by a group of community partners, including Greene County Human Services, to incorporate life and basketball skills into a 2-hour session for children to participate in over the summer.
“We’ve had kids grow up through our program,” said Tracie Sypin, an organizer and human services employee. “Some kids come back and help with the program.”
On Monday, only three Waynesburg girls attended the camp. Alexa Lagos, 8, and sisters Mackayla Rahuba, 9, and Miranda Rahuba, 6, shot some hoops with Alexa’s father, George Lagos, as he led basketball dribbling drills.
“Is this about speed?” he asked them and waited for their unanimous reply.
“No,” they said, heads shaking. When he asked again what the drill was about, they responded, “Control.”
The camp is sponsored by Family Stability Community Team and is primarily funded by donations and staffed through human services. It is held at the Family Life Center of First Assembly of God just off Route 21 in Eastview.
Sypin said the camp sessions will include speakers who discuss bullying and other age-appropriate life skills.
She said in the first few years of the camp, up to 75 children would participate in the program, but over the past two years, that number decreased to about 30.
“Transportation is always an issue,” she said. “And everybody is planning summer vacations.”
Melanie Trauth, a human services employee who helps with the camp each year, said another reason for the decrease could be families are not as involved with their children and don’t bring them out for the camp.
Sypin said she hopes for more participants for the other three days of the camp, which will be from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. July 15, 18 and 22. For more information about the camp, call Sypin at 724-852-5276 ext. 525.