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Stiles holds inaugural camp with help of former Lady Bears teammates
By Jennifer Byrd, The Southwest Standard, November 28, 2001 Jackie Stiles is back at SMS to complete her degree and to give back to the community that supported her. Stiles held her first basketball camp last weekend at the Chesterfield Family Center in Springfield. Approximately 125 girls participated in the camp. Stiles received help from former teammates Tara Mitchem and Melody Campbell as well as former SMS assistant coach Chuck Williams, who acted as camp coordinator. “Every summer in college I would go and work camps and travel around. I’ve always kind of enjoyed working at camps and working with young people and trying to make a difference,” Stiles said. Stiles will be holding three camps this year: one in Springfield, one in Kansas and one in Portland, where she plays for the WNBA Fire. “I’m very excited to have my first camp in Springfield because this community has given me so much support. I thought it was a way to give back a little bit and work with the community,” Stiles said. “I know what it was like for me to go to camps when I was younger and for a player I looked up to or a coach to help me out. [I know] what kind of impact that had.” Parents were happy that Jackie made herself available to help their kids. “I think it’s an opportunity of a lifetime,” Cynthia Cook of Neosho said. Other parents were excited that their daughters had the opportunity to be close to Jackie after idolizing her. “We’re real excited because this is the first chance [my daughter has] actually got to be so close to Jackie Stiles and really be inspired by her,” Teresa Green of Springfield said. Sixteen-year-old Marielle Gaston and her parents Paul and Rhonda drove about 600 miles from Stephenville, Texas to attend the camp. Paul is originally from Springfield, so the Gastons visited with family, but the major draw was Jackie Stiles. “We didn’t have any camps during Thanksgiving and it’s a lot of days to be off. Plus Jackie Stiles, I’ve loved hearing about her,” Marielle Gaston said. Paul Gaston added: “I’m actually the one who lit [Marielle] up to Jackie. I’m the bigger fanatic than she is. We’re just a Jackie-house.” The camp players were some of the first to play on the new Chesterfield Family Center basketball court. The playing floor was only about 60 days old when the camp was held last weekend. “It’s a tremendous facility. They [members of the Springfield Park Board] have just bent over backward to make sure everything was taken care of,” Williams said. “It just makes you happy to be living in Springfield, to know that our park board is that professional and well organized, and that receptive to letting something like this take place.” Stiles will be graduating from SMS in May and hopes to continue running her own camps. “One day I want to have my own camp business and run camps all over,” Stiles said. “This year I had to have a company run it for me because of school. I didn’t have time to do the marketing and the behind-the-scenes. Probably next year and the years after I’ll try to run my own camps. This is a starting point for me, and I can learn from this company how to do it.” Williams thinks the future of the camps are bright and Stiles has a lot to offer girls who are wanting to succeed at playing basketball. “I think [the camps have] a good future because Jackie’s work ethic comes over into the camp. Parents and players who are wanting to excel want to be around people who have excelled,” Williams said. TO THE TOP |