Hammel's ABA Camp a Fixture in Community after 31 Years
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After his first season at the helm of the Merrimack men's basketball program in 1980-81, Bert Hammel partnered with the Lawrence Boys and Girls Club to start the Academic Basketball Awareness Camp.
"When I first got to Merrimack, I knew that I wanted to give back and get involved with the community. Ever since I was a kid, giving back was a trait of mine bestowed upon me by my parents," recalled Hammel, who is entering his 33rd year on the sideline with the Warriors.
The camp's timeless goal has been to teach life skills to young men who wouldn't normally get the chance to attend a camp. The attendees learn life skills through attending workshops in the mornings and playing basketball in the afternoons.
Each year a theme is selected for the camp and the 2011 edition will use the theme "Represent". Everything that the campers participate in will be geared toward teaching a value of the selected theme. Previous themes employed were "Commitment to Learning" in 1985, "Preparing for Success" in 1992 and 2000's "Seize the Day".
Workshops available for the campers range from "Designing New Sneakers for your Franchise", which teaches kids how to design their own shoe and skills to market the product, to "Represent Character and Integrity", which emphasizes how character and integrity translate to basketball, school and life.
On Monday, the 150 campers from the Lawrence Boys and Girls Club moved in to the Merrimack College dorms. Upon arrival to the camp, attendees are issued a pair of gym shorts and a shirt. The kids are then split into six franchises and spend all week working to attain points on the court, through contests and representing themselves with character. At the end of the week, the members of the franchise with the most points will receive an ABA watch.
Following the annual awards gathering on Friday, the campers will depart with not only basketball skills but new friends and lessons learned.
"My favorite part about the camp is playing three-on-three and going to class," said Xavier Sanchez of Lawrence.
Kevin Carney of Lawrence added, "I enjoy going outside and working hard and hanging out in the dorms with my friends."
Along with Hammel, a group of coaches assist with instruction at the camp. Many of the coaches take time away from their full-time jobs to help out along with donating the pay that they receive for working the camp to the Lawrence Boys and Girls Club's annual Christmas party. Also on staff for the week-long event are members of the Merrimack men's basketball team. All coaches reside in the residence halls along with the campers.
Among the coaches are some former campers who come back because they love the atmosphere as well as giving back. "Giving back was engrained in me when I was young. Ever since I started coming here, ABA has always been on my schedule and the summer would feel incomplete without it," said Rick Nault, an original attendee from the 1981 camp who is now the head boys' basketball coach at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence.
Nault is part of a long list of alumni who have roots tied to the ABA camp. Others have gone on to become teachers, doctors, lawyers, coaches and members of the military and police force.
Every year Hammel brings in a guest speaker to talk about their life choices and how those decisons shaped their lives. Past guest speakers have included Boston Celtics legend M.L. Carr, Boston Celtics assistant coach Armand Hill and CBS announcer Lenny Elmore. This year, Chris Herren will be speaking to the youngsters. A native of Fall River, Mass., Herren recently released a book entitled "Basketball Junkie" in which he recounts how drug abuse halted his NBA career.
"I've been doing this for over 30 years and every year it amazes me because I love being here around the kids. One of my highlights is staying in the dorms with everyone and also the preparation to set this whole thing up from when we start in September to when the kids arrive," offered Hammel with a smile.
The Warriors' head coach has been honored numerous times for his generosity and sense of giving back to the community. Hammel has been honored twice by the City of Lawrence for his work with the Boys and Girls Club. In 2000, he received the UMass Amherst Sports Management Program "Service Beyond Recognition" Award for founding and coordinating the Academic Basketball Awareness Camp.
Most recently, he was honored by the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation in 2009 for his dedication, success and commitment to the ABA camp with the Community MVP Award.
A two-time Paul Schoenfeld Sportsmanship Award recipient, Hammel was honored in 1997 and 2001. The award is given annually to one of over 200 schools in the New England Region which best epitomizes character, ethics and integrity in the game of basketball.
The Academic Basketball Awareness Camp is sure to continue to provide disadvantaged children of Lawrence the opportunity to enhance their skills on and off the basketball court for many years to come. After Hammel's coaching career concludes, his passion for the game and the community will carry on through the ABA Camp.
