Coach Mike Thibault and the rest of the Connecticut Sun coaching staff teamed up with coaches from around Southern New England and six Sun players to hold a week-long basketball clinic for local girls. Coach “T”s Summer Basketball Camp, held at Connecticut College, provided an opportunity for girls from grades 4-12 to improve on the fundamentals of basketball, while also giving them a chance to spend time with some of their favorite Sun players.

Lindsay Whalen, Katie Douglas, Jessica Brungo, Le’Coe Willingham, Jen Derevjanik and Debbie Black were all coaches for the week. Each of the 85 campers was able to interact with the players through daily drills on defense, ball-handling and shooting.

“I really liked working with the players in the different stations,” said Amanda Raynes, an 11-year old from East Lyme. Megan Sinay, a 16-year old camper, was adding to her list of favorite Sun players after the camp. “Lindsay Whalen is my favorite player, but Debbie Black was really fun. She had some good dribbling drills,” Sinay said.

The campers weren’t the only ones impressed with the Sun players taking time to coach in the camp during their August Olympic hiatus from the WNBA regular season. Allison Bokoff of Norwich, mother of 11-year-old Hilary Bokoff, was one of many parents who were pleased with the camp. "She loved it. This is the first camp she has attended and she just loved everything about it,” Bokoff said. “I think it was very cool that it was the players on the team who were the instructors. I wish we could have had more than one week.”

Jim Stowe of Charlestown, R.I., father of 12-year-old Ashley, echoed those sentiments. "It was exciting. My daughter really enjoyed it,” Stowe said. “There was a lot of good instruction with the coaches and players. That's what she loved most. It was real positive. There were a lot of high-fives.”

Friday’s session allowed the campers to display the techniques they had learned in the previous four days in a series of contests. The players were separated by age and ability and then competed against each other in a free-throw contest and “hot shots” (a jump-shot contest).

Teresa Estrada of Moosup, mother of 10-year-old Alexandria, was able to see a big difference in her daughter’s play from Monday to Friday. “She's gotten more aggressive. Her ball-handling has gotten more controlled,” she said. Michelle Lagrotteria, a 10-year old and East Lyme resident, was thrilled to hone her basketball skills for close to four hours a day for five days in a row. “I learned the proper form for shooting and the speed dribbling contest was really fun.”

After the Olympic break, the Connecticut Sun’s next home game is September 3rd at Mohegan Sun Arena. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling 1-877-SUN(786)-TIXX(8499).