Family of Aloha II: LeBron James Kings Academy Basketball Camp

Joshua, Alex S. and Jashon L.(all Next Level Basketball Training clients,YBA DAWGS teammates and, best of friends) travelled to beautiful San Diego to the Lebron James King's Academy Basketball Camp, held from July 29th-August 4th, 2010.

With close to 800 campers, ages 7 to 18 travelling from as far away as Australia, Spain and China, as well as from other states like Miami, Arizona and Ohio...UC San Diego was a busy place.
It was basketball from morning (900AM) until night (900PM), so there was no shortage of them being able to showcase their skills! And did they ever!!

Alex again led his team to the CHAMPIONSHIP for the 5-on-5 games for his conference (8 Teams), this is the second year in a row that Alex has led his team to victory at the camp. He's talking about a "Three-Peat" next year! For his accomplishment, Alex received a 5-on-5 Champion camp plaque from LeBron himself!! WAY TO GO ALEX!!

Here's Alex receiving his award for 5-on-5 Team Champs (REPEAT!!)! Presented by Lebron himself!!

All three worked on their game, and all three came back with great accomplishments to talk about! Keep in mind - 800 campers, and MAYBE 150 awards (team and individual) were given out...so to come back with any "hardwood" or "special considerations" made by any of the camp coaches, commissioners or director is a HUGE deal!!
They even got to get up close and personal with the person responsible for bringing "The King" to this Earth (LeBron's Mom)!!!

Here's Jashon with LeBron James' mom!!

After the first day, Jashon was chosen to move up a grade because of his dominance at the 10-11 year old level. This is a HUGE deal, as only a chosen few are requested to be moved up. GREAT JOB!!!

Here's Joshua receiving his first of two awards presented by "The King"!!

And...by applying his knowledge of the game and individual skills that he's worked on over and over, Joshua received an individual camper award! AWESOME!!!In addition to winning the Hot Shots Championship over 80 players, what makes me most proud is that out of the 80 players in his conference, Joshua was chosen by the coaches as having the "Best Basketball IQ". GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT!!!

Here's Joshua sporting his two pieces of "Hardwood" YEAH!!!!!
BUT...trophy, or no trophy, it was all for the experience of it all! They're all talking about the next one!! I always say we're here to make their dreams come true...and this was certainly one of "those moments"!!!!

All three NLBT clients "cheesin' it up" for the camera with Li'l Dru and Romeo of the big screen movie "More Than A Game" and overseas pro ball fame!!

Josh Mack also travels to meet LeBron (Oops! I mean play basketball)

Another client of ours, Josh Mack(soon to be 4th grade) also is a big Lebron fan, and travelled to San Diego for the camp. Josh also led his team to the 5-on-5 Championship and received a plaqure from LeBron!! AWESOME JOB!!!
Josh Mack gettin' some "Camera Time"!!!
Check out the shirt!!!

Ryan Haug makes the trip (again) to UC San Diego to showcase his skills!

The player responsible for introducing us to the King's Academy a year ago, Ryan Haug, made the trip to UC San Diego to meet "The King" once again. Ryan showed his "baller" skills and was in the finals for the 1-on-1 competition. He did a GREAT JOB the entire week and had a BLAST!!

From a coach (and parent) perspectiveSome people told us that the LeBron James camp wouldn't be worth it and some questioned sending our child to a "celebrity camp" for various reasons.

I am going to try to keep this short (but it won't be), but will hopefully get a few important thoughts across. Please keep in mind, I never stayed to observe a full day - I saw what I saw, and got the rest from Joshua (and the boys) telling me about their day.
Having gone to the camp last year, I knew what to expect. Now it was a matter of if LeBron was willing to keep things at a high standard, as I was impressed with our first visit. There were no promises made from the camp organizers. No promises of other NBA players. Just that LeBron would be there. LeBron was there everyday last year - and this year was no different. He was there each day. Kudos to LeBron. (Especially after "The Decision" to go to Miami).

Joshua and LeBron's Mommy
Note: Joshua is a HUGE LeBron fan - so to see his "idol" is a dream come true. And isn't that why we parents are here? To help them realize their dreams and create memories?

The King...

First day was registration - And LeBron was there to welcome everyone.

Damon Jones (LeBron's former teammate on the Cavs) was there too.

They had a huge staff of coaches again. Each team consisted of a coach (or two) and about 10 players. Good Ratio (1:6). Coaches were mostly former coaches and current and former college players. Joshua somehow got placed with his same coach as last year...hmm...no complaints. The guy played Jr. college and college ball (if it matters to anyone). He treated the kids well, and knew basketball - both very important.

A couple of the coaches/commissioners were Dru Joyce III (Lil' Dru), Romeo Travis & Sian Cotton. All high school teammates and close friends of LeBron and all were stars of the movie "More Than A Game". Lil Dru and Romeo play pro ball overseas, and Sian played college football for Ohio State.

LeBron and Friends

Joshua and Jashon both said "we didn't learn anything". Surprised? They both said I already taught them what they went over at the camp. BEFORE YOU JUDGE...THINK OF WHAT PRICE YOU PUT ON GIVING YOUR CHILD A MEMORY OF A LIFETIME DOING SOMETHING THEY LOVE!! How many times has a memory been missed because of a decision about money?
Personally, I didn't think "now what did I pay for?" as many would have. Instead I asked, are you playing hard and more importantly, are you having fun. When the answer was a resounding "YES!" with huge smiles...as a coach and a parent, that was worth the price of admission.
Back to LeBron…he was there EVERYDAY. LeBron played in a scrimmage every night except one, and the kids all got to sit on the floor courtside to get a great view of the action. Sharpshooter Damon Jones also played and NBA Player Trevor Ariza was there playing one night. There was also a Sean Merriman (San Diego Chargers) sighting.

On the last day, the kids got to have one item autographed by LeBron, and the autograph was authenticated by Upper Deck. Joshua chose to have an authentic Miami Heat jersey signed. He was able to hand it to LeBron for signing, so a close encounter with "The King".
Authentic Autograph!!
Also on the last day, individual and team camp awards were given. If I had to guess, there were maybe a total of 150 plaques given out to a pool of 750+ kids. Joshua was chosen by the coaches to receive the “Best basketball IQ" award from his conference, which consisted of around 80 kids. There was only one of these awards given per age group, so we are very proud of him! Joshua also won the Hot Shots shooting contest as well. But the important part was LeBron presented the plaques – so a high five from “The King” himself was a great way to cap off the day!!

Joshua was noticed by the Camp Director, Dru Joyce II - LeBron's High School/AAU Coach, and the current head coach at St. Vincent St. Mary's High School in Ohio. After watching Joshua win the shooting contest he went to Joshua and told him "Okay, you're moving up and playing on my High School team"! HUGE compliment!!!
Here's Joshua and Jashon with Dru Joyce II
Overall, it was absolutely worth it. Not only did Joshua get to play the sport he loves (bordeline obsessed), be with a few of his closest friends and meet his idol…but we, as a family, were able to enjoy a week at a beautiful resort (Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines), no cooking or cleaning, and even got to enjoy

The San Diego Zoo (with Jayden) and Legoland with the boys! Also got to hang out with our good friends the Schneiders (Alex's parents) good times and good conversation!!!

Here's Jayden at the Zoo.

Joshua and Jashon ready to enjoy the day at Legoland.

At Joe's Crab Shack with the Schneiders (Alex's bro Tim and friend JJ are also in the picture - both attended the LeBron Camp).

(JJ, Tim, Jayden, Alex, Joshua and Ja....)

Joshua, Ja and Alex's new friend from Texas, Ashton (Family member of Corliss Williamson - former Sac King). Did I mention this was a plus? Making new friends??