ELLSWORTH, Maine — For the 10th year, the Maine Celtics are traveling around the state offering kids ages eight to 12 a chance to learn from basketball pros.
“I had no idea that the Maine Celtics were actually going to come, so I just thought ‘Oh wow, this is really cool,'" 13-year-old Lilly Ball said.
The clinics make a return this year after a pandemic hiatus, and kids are happy to be learning from Maine Celtics coaches once again.
“The summer clinic series is a great way for us to get into these communities where we know basketball is huge,” Evans Boston, senior director of public relations for Maine Celtics, said.
The basketball clinics kicked off in Lewiston, and then the coaches traveled up to "The County," also known as Aroostook County, where they met with 125 kids in Fort Fairfield.
About 75 kids packed into the Ellsworth Elementary Middle School where the coaches set up defensive, ball handling, and rebounding stations.
“Just basic fundamentals, trying to give them a couple things to take home and maybe build on later on during the wintertime if they decide to play” Austin Vereen, one of the coaches, said.
For the Maine Celtics, the clinics are a great way to connect with kids that may normally have no connection to the team based out of southern Maine.
“Maine is a basketball state, and we are the Maine Celtics, we are not the Portland Celtics, we’re the Maine Celtics, so it is important to us to get to these communities and it’s hard to get up here during the season, so in the summertime, our off-season is a perfect time to get up here and spread a little basketball and have some fun," Boston said.
The Maine Celtics will be holding two more of their free basketball clinics in Hampden on Aug. 11 and in Waterville on Aug. 12.