Camp Horsemen bounces in phase two of its summer basketball camp from next Monday to Thursday at St. Michael’s

Grades 1 to 9 participating from morning to mid afternoon. New head coaches, David Rodriguez and Martin Esquibel, run the camp, with assistance from the school’s junior varsity and varsity basketball players

By ARNIE LESHIN, Santa Fe Today

It was an impressive turnout in June, and now coaches David Rodriguez and Martin Esquibel are hoping for more of the same when phase two of the Camp Horsemen Summer Basketball Camp bounces in again from this coming Monday to Thursday at St. Michael’s.

Rodriguez and Esquibel are the new head coaches of the boys and girls programs, respectively. For Rodriguez, these summer camps are nothing new, for as long-time head coach at Santa Fe High, he always provided summer hoops for the youngsters.

For Esquibel, it’s something new, for the girls had never before held a summer camp when he was assistant to head coach Martin Romero.

“It’s great for both programs,” Esquibel said. “We’ve had about a dozen to a dozen and a half girls for the camp, as well as our junior varsity and varsity players assisting.”

To Rodriguez, it’s a time to have fun, to compete.

“We’ve got three different age groups,” he said Thursday after one of his daily long bike rides, “and we have appropriate drills, we teach the fundamentals, and in June we numbered about 55 who turned out for each age group.”

The youngest is for those entering grades 1 and 2, and their camp times are from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Those entering 3rd to 6th grades take the court between 9 a.m. and noon, and then come those who are entering grades 7th to 9th hoop camping from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

For the youngest group, the cost for the four days is $40. For the 3rd to 6th graders and the oldest group, the cost is $75.

Rodriguez, too, is happy to see the current St. Michael’s players helping out.

“It’s great to have this,” he said. “These kids working with the campers are a big plus.”

The camp uses both gymnasiums, the Shelley-Perez main gym and the auxiliary Tipton gym. For the younger campers, there are adjustable baskets. For the older groups, there’s developing the fundamentals of the game, shooting, offensive moves, defense, rebounding, and participating in team play.

“In June,” Esquibel said, “we had shooting for two days and then had skills and development after that. We will probably do the same this time. It’s just great to see these kids having fun and competing.”

As for Rodriguez taking to the road on his bicycle, it’s nothing new. It’s what probably keeps him in shape through the years. For him, it’s been about 30 years of doing this, and he apparently hasn’t slowed down.

“I did about 60 miles today,” he said. “My home is about 8 miles from the school, so I might even ride my bike to some of our games.”

To register for basketball camp week, check out the St. Michael’s website at stmichaelssf.org, and sign up. To Rodriguez and Esquibel, the more the merrier.