Sacrificing early: East Ridge hosts fourth-annual Lil’ Raptors boys basketball camp

East Ridge hosted its fourth-annual Lil’ Raptors boys basketball camp last week at the East Ridge High School gymnasium — dubbed “The Perch.”

At the camp, a record 203 future Raptors from grades K-8 participated in a variety of drills and honed their skills under the guidance of East Ridge High School boys basketball players and head coach Paul Virgin, who said he was happy with the turnout. Virgin said the camp grew from a total of 180 players last year and 122 players two years ago.

“I am thrilled by our turnout this year and the way our kids and parents have bought in to the East Ridge way of playing and practicing basketball,” Virgin said.

Bringing the youngest and oldest East Ridge players together is a highlight of the camp, according to Virgin, who said it helps grow the East Ridge community. Each participant who wears their camp T-shirt gets free admission to East Ridge High School boys varsity team home games.

A portion of the camp is dedicated to its decathlon where players go through a series of 10 different drills focused on different skill. Participants are awarded a certain number of points for how fast they do the drill or the number of shots made in a certain amount of attempts.

The motto of this year’s camp was “Sacrifice Early, Win Late.”

“We have high expectations and the work ethic to go with it,” Virgin said. “Our goal is to put East Ridge basketball in a position to compete with anyone on any given night.”

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