Navy vet teaches basketball skills

Local Navy veteran and Wesco AAU basketball coach Max Green offered his fundamentals camp this summer the week of Aug. 10, and this year he did so free of charge.

By Danielle Szulczewski • August 14, 2009 6:35 pm
Seventh-grader Landon Riker makes a one-handed shot during a basketball camp for beginning and intermediate players at the Navy Exchange. The camp begins with 100 shots as players work on developing their skills and their basketball IQ.
Seventh-grader Landon Riker makes a one-handed shot during a basketball camp for beginning and intermediate players at the Navy Exchange. The camp begins with 100 shots as players work on developing their skills and their basketball IQ.

MARYSVILLE — Local Navy veteran and Wesco AAU basketball coach Max Green offered his fundamentals camp this summer the week of Aug. 10, and this year he did so free of charge.

For him, the camp is an opportunity to help kids who might not be able to afford a camp get more exposure to the sport. And he gets a chance to discover more talent for his winter team.

Coming back from helping coach the all-Navy men and women’s teams this summer in Millington, Tenn., Green said he now brings a more disciplined approach to the sport than he used to.

“It also gave me a new perspective on the game of basketball. It’s all about training and preparing the kids for the game,” he said. “Have a plan and then execute it. Basketball is really serious, it’s not just a pick-up game when you’re playing competitive basketball.”

His summer camp drew about 25 boys and girls in grades fourth through eighth, many of whom came when they could while families fit in last-minute vacations before the school year starts Sept. 8. Several players were on his seventh grade 3-on-3 team that won their division championship at the Tulalip 3-on-3 contest Aug. 8-9. While Green will coach the Marysville seventh-grade boys this winter in the Wesco league, he’s also hoping to form a select basketball team among community girls, holding tryouts at the Navy Exchange Aug. 21 from 5-7 p.m. and Aug. 22 from 10 a.m. to noon.

“There’s a lot of basketball clubs that are starting to come in this area. There’s a lot of teams from Seattle and Bellingham that are trying to pull kids from the Snohomish County area, especially in the Everett, Marysville, Arlington, Lake Stevens area. These kids are being farmed out to play on these big traveling teams,” he said. “That’s good, because then I know that what I’m watching is the fruit of their labor. I don’t like it, but that’s what it’s all about. To see somebody you’ve trained get to go play on these traveling teams.”

Tryouts for the Wesco AAU league will be held sometime in October with the date being set next month.

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