Shooting Stars showcases and promotes Calgary girls’ basketball

125 girls participated in one of the longest running basketball development camps in Alberta to develop their skills with help from college and university coach

Shooting Stars aims to showcase and promote girls’ basketball in Alberta.

About 125 girls participated in Saturday’s camp.

Since it was founded, some of the participants have gone on to play in the WNBA and won major awards at NCAA schools.

Brian Utley, the director and founder of Shooting Stars, sees the event as an opportunity to create a basketball showcase for girls.

“I think girls haven’t always had the same opportunities,“ Utley said. ”I think that’s changed a lot.

“Once you get started, it’s hard not to do it, and we’ve got 125 girls here this weekend, so it makes it easy to want to keep doing it.”

Shooting Stars also gives the girls a chance to develop their skills while playing in front of college and university coaches and challenge themselves by stepping out of their comfort zone.

“It’s a good opportunity to get to play with new players that you’ve never played with or only played against -- and just the atmosphere is really fun basketball,” said Grade 10 student Ellie Reimer, from the Prairie Christian Academy.

“It’s good to get coached by new people and like other young athletes that are playing, and also just it’s an opportunity to play and compete with new people,” Reimer added.

Shooting Stars began in 1991 and is the longest-running program of its kind in Alberta -- and Leigann Doan Reimer, Ellie’s mom, said it provides an invaluable opportunity for her daughter to grow her hoops game.

“It’s important that the girls get new experiences as they play,“ she said. ”If they’re always in the same situation, same coach, same player, same teammates, you kind of get comfortable.

“I think it’s good to get them a little bit uncomfortable,” she added. “See new experiences when you see other girls come together that have common backgrounds, and hey, maybe we were against each other in games for years now, we can be teammates together and support each other -- and challenge each other.

“When they play well against each other, they all get better, and I think that’s a key thing in making each other better.”

For more about Shooting Stars, go here.

With files from CTV News Calgary’s Tyler Barrow