BY TRUE DAKOTAN INTERN RILEY RODUNER
Wessington Springs High School (WSHS) Senior, Kate Havlik has always loved the sport of basketball, in fact, it is almost as if it’s in her blood.
“I have been playing since I was in 3rd grade. My mom played college basketball, so it has always just kind of been in my family,” said Havlik. “I have a hoop at home where I have spent countless hours practicing. I started playing varsity my freshman year and I think that really proved that I can play with upper level players.”
For her senior experience project, Havlik decided to host a basketball camp for younger girls.
When asked why she chose to host a basketball camp, Havlik said that she believes its important to start learning early.
“Its really important for kids to learn fundamentals and basics when they are younger because then they will have a strong foundation when they get older,” she explained. “I thought it would be a good idea to have kids practice something they can possibly carry into their future high school sports career.”
When asked how she was able to spread the word about her project, Havlik said she was nervous about not getting enough kids signed up because people don’t really know her. She first thought of the girls who had younger siblings in basketball. “I know that Springs is a smaller town and people talk about things happening in the community. I thought I would have pretty good numbers because this is such a supportive community.”
She goes on to say that basketball is a common sport, unlike tennis, it is not very advanced.
For her camp, she was really focused on the fundamentals and basics of basketball.
“ I split my camp into two age groups so that I could focus on certain levels of skills. The first group was made of 17, 1st-3rd graders and the second group was made of 8, 4th-6th graders,” she said.
She had a lot of help fromherseniorexperience mentor, Jason Kolousek, with an additional helping hand from Kolousek’s wife, Liza. They worked with the kids on basics such as, ball handling, passing, shooting form, and dribbling. Havlik said that because her second group was much smaller than the first, she was able to have more one-on-one time with them.
“I am excited to be more involved in this new community,” she expressed. “It was fun to be able to be involved in building a foundation for the next generation of Spartan basketball.”