“At Bitty Ballers, we believe in exposing children as young as 3 years old to the exciting world of basketball,” Kreider wrote on the program’s Facebook page. “Too often, we wait until kids are in second or third grade to introduce them to the sport, missing valuable early development opportunities.
“On the flip side, many coaches and players are highly experienced with older kids or high-intensity levels but struggle to connect with younger children, leaving a gap in both coaching quality and age-appropriate content.
“Bitty Ballers bridges this gap by offering young children the chance to experience basketball at their own pace, in a way that’s both fun and developmentally appropriate. We provide the same unique opportunities older kids enjoy, including meeting high school, college and professional athletes.”
Kreider, a Fairmont High School graduate who played college basketball at West Virginia Wesleyan and Fairmont State, wrapped up the latest camp in April, tripling the numbers from a year earlier with almost three dozen kids in attendance. She also held camps in February and March. The next camp will take place Aug. 24.
Kreider now works at the Greater Dayton School as a fitness teacher but still holds the camps at Christ United Methodist Church, where she previously taught at the preschool, in Kettering. Her degree in childhood education helps her run the camp.
“It is supposed to be a fun experience,” Kreider said. “So while I want the kids to learn the game of basketball and love the different elements, I don’t pressure them. I’ll have a handful of kids that want to go talk to their mom every two seconds. And I’m like, ‘Go talk to your mom.’”
Kreider held three camps this year. Each had special guests, including basketball players from Wright State, the University of Dayton and local high schools such as Fairmont, Alter and Chaminade Julienne. A number of players, including former Ohio State forwards Makayla Waterman and Jantel Lavender, provided video messages that were played for the kids.
Kreider started the program for kids at Christ United but then opened it up to kids from Kettering and then in the greater Dayton area. Now anyone can attend. She plans to open registration for the August camp soon, and more information will be found on the program’s Facebook page: Facebook.com/bittyballersbasketball.
“I’m really passionate about giving kids that young the experience of socializing with other kids,” she said. “Some of the kids, their parents are like, ‘Oh, my kids don’t talk to anybody at school, but they’re making friends at camp and having fun and meeting these really tall players and getting pictures and autographs.’ It’s just a really good community-building event.”
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