For the second year in a row, former Wellington High School basketball great Trent Frazier — who led the Wolverines to the Florida High School Athletic Association’s Class 8A state championship — hosted the one-day Trent Frazier Basketball Camp presented by the Wellington Wolves on Saturday, July 27.
The camp was conducted inside two gymnasiums at Village Park in Wellington and attracted 110 young and energetic boys and girls from age 8 to 14. The camp was free, but participants were required to register in advance.
Prior to the beginning of the camp, Wellington Wolves President Chris Fratalia welcomed the campers and their family members in attendance, as well as Wellington Village Council members Mayor Michael Napoleone, Vice Mayor John McGovern and Councilwoman Maria Antuña. Napoleone stepped to the microphone to express his appreciation to Frazier for his role at the camp and wished everybody a safe and fun experience.
During the three-hour session, Frazier and his assistant coaches demonstrated and taught fundamental basketball skills, such as dribbling, passing, catching and shooting. Frazier and his assistants also taught the campers how to play defense, and they emphasized the importance of defensive footwork. Frazier also successfully demonstrated how to dribble and create space in order to shoot an uncontested jump shot.
Frazier enjoyed the chance to share his passion and knowledge about basketball with the young campers.
“I want to inspire the younger generation to play basketball,” said Frazier, 25, who is now playing professional basketball in Russia. “I simply want to give back to the community which has been good to me. I just want to see kids smile, laugh and have a good time.”
During the camp, Frazier was assisted by Sage Chen-Young, Jagger Ruiz, Linton Brown, John Saint Juste, Alex Dieudonne, Lee Frazier, Jaylen Arnold, Michael Colin, Zay Perez, Jason Mattson, Conrad Quinter, Gus Ponce, Anthony Brown, Saah Gaye and Walter Brinkley Jr.
The campers enjoyed the overall experience and learned a great deal about basketball.
“I learned about getting better at defense by having better footwork,” said Hadley Buffardi, 13, of Wellington.
“I learned about teamwork, how to play better defense, and I improved my shooting skills,” added Solomon Banks, 13, of Wellington.
As the presenting sponsor, the Wellington Wolves enjoyed showing support for Frazier in his efforts to give back to the community.
“The camp was amazing,” Fratalia said. “It sold out in under two hours. It was great to see all of our past alumni come back and give back to the young kids and the Wellington community. The future looks bright, and I am extremely encouraged.”
At the end of the clinic, a free lunch courtesy of Chick Fil-A was provided for all the campers.
Sponsors of this year’s Trent Frazier Basketball Camp were the Village of Wellington, the Wellington Wolves, ESPN West Palm, the Council of Dads, K12 Print and Chick Fil-A. Each camper was given a camp T-shirt courtesy of K12 Print. Bri-Live, aka Brianna Sabbat, a 2015 graduate of WHS and a former player with the Wellington Wolves provided music throughout the event.
