The last two years have added all sorts of challenges for members of the Simcoe Developments U13 Orillia Lakers basketball team.
Throughout it all, the team has tried to use each challenge as an opportunity to get better. During the most recent lockdown the team took on the challenge of doing 1,000,000 dribbles in 20 days and completed the challenge Saturday with an incredible final push of 151,000 dribbles on the last day!
At an average of 50,000 dribbles per day, the team likely dribbled more than twice as much as if they had a regular two-hour practice every day for the 20 days.
The team uses a training app called HomeCourt to provide some friendly competition and to track every dribble. Each week, there are small prizes for those who had the most dribbles and those who scored the highest in 41 different ball handling and agility drills.
The app is great for developing ball-handling skills because it forces players to dribble without looking at the ball and to do complicated tasks while doing various dribbles at high speed. The Orillia Lakers U13 Boys are all over the global leaderboards in most drills.
More importantly, there was a huge improvement in ball-handling skills especially in the players who dribbled the most.
Emerson Hoffman led the team with an incredible 363,000 dribbles and Hayden Voung put in 240,000. Despite all the dribbles, parents were commenting about the sweet sound of balls bouncing in the house!
After 18 months filled with numerous outdoor practices and often being restricted to non-contact drills, the fall of 2021 provided an opportunity to get back on the court.
The team has a 9-8 record, including a stellar 5-2 start in the highly competitive Canadian Youth Basketball League. The team has consistently looked for big challenges, including taking on some of the province's top teams in tournaments and exhibition play.
For now, the team will continue to train from home but is looking forward to getting back in the gym in February.
