Snow Valley Basketball Camp, Waverly Iowa (My Experience) By Luke Burke

The first day of camp with Coach Showalter speaking to the 375 camp participants!

View from the Bridge on my morning run. This bridge is on East Bremer Avenue, and looks amazing with the sunrise!

DISCLAIMER: This was written from my own desire. I was not asked to write this. I was not endorsed or paid to write this. This is something I did from my own experience and wanted to express my satisfaction with camp.

It has now been a week since I left Waverly Iowa, Wartburg College Snow Valley Basketball Camp lead by a great coach Don Showalter. You can read coach Showalter’s bio by clicking here

I want to take the time to acknowledge and give a shout out to people at this camp that make this thing operate and a special shout out to some of the people we met while there.

The camp would not be possible without these guys making things happen. Coach Don Showalter, Coach Dave Schlabaugh, Coach Zach Schlabaugh Coach Peth, and Coach Spielbauer, among others. I apologize if I missed people but this camp's operation is an absolute team effort!

More Shout Outs!

I want to make note of some people I was able to meet at camp this year, which had an impact on me. These are people this was my first time meeting, not people that I knew from last year.

Jahkil Jackson – Social Entrepreneur at only 8 years old started a nonprofit to feed the homeless, and at 14 years old have raised $275,000! Follow this link to donate https://officialprojectiam.com/

Dick Lien, Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach at Drury University Springfield Missouri “A Coaching Journey - it's in the "File Cabinet": 2nd Addition” You may purchase his book here. “BOOK”

Juan Bautista – Professional Basketball Player overseas Spain and Italy. He was so willing to help with basketball advice and happy to take a picture with my son and his friend. Meeting him was very cool. You can find him on Instagram @JBmarsico

There is always one person you truly connect with, and this year for me was

Chinaka Njoku Founder/CEO TASEN INC who is doing marvelous things for his community. https://www.tasen.us/

I was so happy we were in the same division; he is up in Michigan, and I now have a reason to go up there and visit! Maybe we will go to a Pistons game or something that would be amazing!

First let me say this about coach Showalter. I know that coach is a student of John Wooden. If I am honest coach Show is my John Wooden. I never met Coach Wooden, but I feel like John Wooden rubbed off on coach Show, and when I am around him, I feel like I am around greatness, I feel like I am around the gold standard of coaching!

For the second year in a row, I asked if I could have the honor of returning for my second time to be a coach at Snow Valley Basketball camp in Waverly, IA. I had no intent of writing this but something about feeling like I was where I was supposed to be among these coaches that reminded me every day of why I coach. Not only to teach players about basketball but to teach principles that apply to life as well. To set the stage I first met coach Show in August of 2017. I was not a new coach, but I was still new at heart. Had not really coached outside of recreation and AAU basketball at the time but felt like I thought vastly different from other coaches I have seen and met on the AAU circuit who only preached about winning. I struggled to have conversations with people because I was about teaching fundamentals and not so much about winning, so when I heard coach Show speak, I immediately felt like I was in the right place. He was all about teaching and I loved it. This is how I was introduced to who Coach Show was and began to learn more about USA Basketball Junior National Team and received just a little insight of how USA Basketball as an organization operate with the mindset of the gold standard. This was all fascinating to me. A guy from a small town in North Carolina, meeting a guy who has won10 Gold Medals? How could this happen? Talking about a comparison to coach Wooden!

. Fast forward to 2021 I asked to coach at my first Snow Valley Basketball camp, and I was so nervous. One of the things I wanted to improve on was organizing effective drills that translated to game situations. I was terrified of the thought that hundreds of kids may be looking at me to lead them but was relieved when I learned it would not be like that. I still thought in the back of my mind maybe I will have to step in for a coach, so I mentally had myself prepared. I was also a little intimidated knowing that there will be coaches there who have won at a prominent level, who have coached at a prominent level, and here I am in my mid-thirties still trying to nail some of the basics. I knew I had to grow outside of my comfort zone something that I now hear coach Show say on repeat in my head as a great reminder that growth happens outside of your comfort zone. The good news in all of that is I got there and felt comfortable once I got in front of the kids. I am a natural teacher; I love to teach, and it just felt really natural and good. One thing for sure I left camp better than I arrived, and I left inspired. I came back to my team (A young eighth grade team) implementing some of the skills, drills, and organization from snow valley camp and I found my practices to be a lot better. I had a lot better use of time oriented around more of what the players needed than generic drills that looked good. I credit Snow Valley for this directly. Fast forward to 2022. Last week to be exact June 27th-June 30th. Going back, I had way more confidence. The game had actually slowed down for me over the last year, and I felt comfortable and confident in anything that I may be asked to do. An example would be this. At Snow Valley as a coach, you may sometimes switch among age groups. My main group was eighth graders, but I was able to get some time with the high school kids. Last year that would have scared me, this year I felt good! There were so many coaches, and so many great teaching points that came from camp, but from a basketball standpoint one of my biggest takeaways was from coach Show talking among us coaches about raising the bar for your players. If you set the bar low that is where they will go so set the bar high. Snow Valley is a camp with a high bar that is set for the athletes and coaches. This was emphasized even more by another great coach I had the opportunity to see here Coach Dave Schlabaugh Head men’s basketball coach at Cornell College in Mount Vernon Iowa. He emphasized to the kids directly what integrity was and reminded the kids we are not just going to let you come to camp and do anything. We are instilling integrity and teaching them to be young men in society not just basketball players, man I loved that! Previously as a coach I was not concerned about being a friend, but I routinely set the bar low. That is the lesson that I will leave with this year set the bar high! Let them reach and achieve! You can find Coach Schlabaugh clicking here Another bright spot for me this year was my opportunity to catch up with coach Dick Peth. This was something I did not get the opportunity to do last year. Coach Peth is the head men’s Basketball Coach at Wartburg College in Waverly Iowa. Coach Peth was inducted into the University of Denver Hall of fame back in October of 2021. He and I had the opportunity to talk from a coach/parent perspective and he gave me some absolute nuggets. What I think was unbelievably valuable is him reminding me to stay positive with my son, and that is something that I know I need to do. Yes, my son and his friend were at the camp and they both made good friends that will probably be their friends for a lifetime. So yes, I trust this camp to help my son get better. I believe the kids my son met were from Kansas City! Imagine that, from the DMV to KC! You can find Coach Peth by clicking here

I met another wonderful person by the name of Dick Lien who authored a book (A Coaching Journey - it is in the "File Cabinet": 2nd Addition) and then he wrote a fact sheet on the 3pt shot, hint 80% of games won, are by the team with the highest field goal percentage. I love this stat! Personally, I do not think people realize 3pt percentage is factored into you field goal % therefore if you shoot 3pointers at a high clip, but only make 32% and your two point is only 42% you might not get a lot of wins factoring total FG%. The Golden State warriors win a lot because their 3-point shot is a good shot selection for three of the players and they usually make a higher percentage than their opponent. Dick was so kind to speak with me and my son. He signed a copy of my book that i purchased and he too imparted his wisdom. You can find Coach Lien by clicking here The link to his book is provided above.

The Camp Experience

Parents reading this are now saying I get that the camp is ran by great people, but how is the actual camp? What is it like? I see that kids come from all over, is it worth it? That is a complex question, and, in this portion, I seek to answer that question.

Before diving too deep into that answer I want to be sure to say this. Your kids will be challenged in the best way possible. They will be held accountable for their actions and will be held accountable and be responsible for Showing up in a timely manner. That said YES, it is worth it.

As a parent you may typically have concerns about, safety of your child, you want to know what your kids are learning, if your kids are having fun, are they getting enough to eat, and are they making friends, among many other things.

What are they Learning?

Let us start with the type of things they are learning. One of my favorite games is a game called Cutthroat. When thinking of this game think “To the point,” instead of the other dark thought that could be associated with that term. We know in the English language many words, and phrases can mean different things in context. So, in this context think of the game as directly to the point. It will be difficult to give full explanation how we play it but I will give you the basics of the game so you can have a good idea, and what the game is designed to do. What we typically find in young athletes is that they develop really bad habits in the game. Cutthroat is designed to break some habits and build new ones. The game starts out 4 vs 4 the offense has three rules that they MUST follow. Many coaches use different rules depending on the needs of their team. We kept pretty basic rules. Rule 1 you must square up, or as some may call it go to the “triple threat position”. This decrease the chance that a player will make a move without first seeing what the available scoring opportunities are. This also takes away the instinct to take off with the ball and try to score immediately. The next rule is if you pass you MUST make a basket cut and move away from the ball. Some coaches will add cut away and screen away back in their programs as a part of their offense. Lastly if someone passes you the ball and you score you must point to that player or coach and say, “Thank you!” This is an old school thing that has been lost at times in the modern game. It is a remarkable thing to acknowledge the work that your teammate put in to get you the ball and acknowledge him for being unselfish. If a player violates any of these rules, they must give up the possession. They go to the back of the line. The defense becomes the offense, and the next group of defenders come in and the process repeats. In this game alone so many principles that you are concerned about are addressed. Not only the basic fundamentals of the game but the kids love the competition. The opportunity to have that level of fun while learning is optimal in my opinion! The players also get the opportunity to work in individual position work, and they also get an opportunity to work on things like spacing, and defensive transition which is especially important for athletes to learn in basketball.

Safety

Four times a day the kids are accounted for through out the camp. In the morning at the wake-up call at 6:15am, after breakfast, after lunch, then after dinner. This does a couple of things. It keeps accountability of the kids for the coaches, so that we always know where our players are. This also teaches the kids the responsibility of being on time and being held accountable themselves. Coaches stay in the dorms and have a sign identifying what room the coaches are in. This allows the kids to seek out a coach at night in case there is a problem. This ensures safety for the kids especially in the event one gets locked out. At the assigning of teams coaches get the players contact information so that if they are missing, we are able to get a hold of them, and find them. The kids have a really good and safe experience.

Making Friends

This is one of the most exciting things for the kids outside of what they are able to do with basketball. I posted a twitter that I have placed below, but there is a little more that I left out of this tweet. Last year when I was at Snow Valley, I met a kid who was living in Poland! The kids get the opportunity to meet kids from all over the country and sometimes all over the world. I myself coached a kid from Arizona, my son became friends with kids from Kansas City last year we met a family from Las Vegas, I met a coach from Michigan, a coach that coaches in Arkansas, and Missouri, and kids are coming from just as many cities. It is amazing how no matter what part of the country we all come from, we enjoy and have the same basic needs, and enjoy the same basic fun things, these kids were no different. We even had a pro player from Argentina who plays in Spain and Italy coaching the kids, this was such an amazing thing for the kids! ( I talked about Juan earlier)

Food

Due to my dietary restrictions, I did not partake in eating at the “chow hall” as we would call it in the military or cafeteria is the more appropriate term, but I did last year. I was able to sit with my kids still this year and they seemed to really love the food. They ate really good, and at the end of the night they had an opportunity to buy pizza for their rooms to have something to eat as camp ended around 9pm for most.

Is it worth it?

The answer to this is an easy yes! For all the things I mentioned above starting with the coaching staff down to what the kids learn to what they eat. The coaches ensure the kids are taken care of and do a fantastic job of looking after them. The kids come away with a lot of learning, and potentially a few new friends, and they learn to be held accountable. The camp is 4 days. The second and third days the kids report at 6:15am and are not done until 9:00pm on average. That’s WORK! The kids also get reports about their game and get feedback from their coaches directly on how to improve!

Parents no matter where you are in the country, I encourage you to allow your kid to try a session at Snow Valley in Iowa this year. The kids will be pushed in a good way, and they will love it!

Feel free to leave a comment if you have been to a camp session.

I want to thank a few more people for my experience. Even though I cannot thank them by name but how well they treated me as a guest in their town was amazing.

The ladies at the Fareway grocery store. They were so helpful and engaging in their conversation gave me small town vibes that I was used to.

The people of Wartburg college that worked on campus specifically the campus store who helped me make a great purchase for a souvenir as I was on my way back home.

I hope you all enjoyed reading all about my experience at the Snow Valley Basketball Camp in Waverly Iowa at Wartburg College. It was a wonderful time for me as a coach, and I am sure your kids, will have a great time as well.