Pursuit is sports feature series highlighting athletes, coaches, and staff and significant sporting events from North Bay and the surrounding area.
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It was presented as an offer Jordie Main knew he couldn’t refuse.
“Jim offered it to me, and I said yes immediately,” says Main. “I always wanted to have a camp like this but never wanted to compete with Jim.”
Main is the Owner of Summer Hoop Camp which runs the first two weeks in July out of St. Joseph Scollard Hall. Main has been running the camp for two years now after Jim Davidson first began operating the instructional sessions in 2001.
“Jim worked at St. Joseph Scollard Hall and coached all the girls' basketball teams and ran Summer Hoop Camp for 20 years. About five or six years ago he reached out to me and asked if I wanted to work for him,” says Main.
“I was one of his senior staff, in charge of making sure all courts were running smoothly. Covid happened and the camps were shut down and Jim just came to the realization that it was time to pass the torch. He reached out to someone else first, but they turned it down.”
Main, who played basketball at various levels during his post-secondary education, says he’s thankful for the first person declining Davidson’s offer.
“I’m two years in and it’s been a great time and learning experience for me. I couldn’t have done these last two years without my wife and my wife’s parents who are doing all of the administrative work behind the scenes. I have the easy job of running this camp, which really is my dream job. The hardest part was organizing all of the t-shirts and coordinating the colours and setting up the pylons, all the gym teacher stuff essentially. Once you are in the gym and you’re surrounded by people who want to be there, it makes everything easy.”
Main is a full-time teacher, preparing to teach kindergarten for the first time this fall at Mapleview, and this job allows him to run the camp during the summers.
“I've taught grades one and two but never kindergarten. I have a newborn at home and so I’ll be learning some activities that are going to benefit myself,” he says.
He adds one of the benefits of taking over Summer Hoop Camp was the good stature it already had within the city of North Bay.
“When Jim offered me the camp, the reputation was already built and I think that is the hardest part about getting established. I have friends who went to this camp that are now bringing their kids,” he says.
“The day has not changed. Everything that Jim built, I carried forward. I had the benefit of working for Jim for a few years and that allowed me to see what he focused on and showed me what worked and what didn’t work. I have the same documents that he used, and we do that because it works. Parents have always told us that their kids have had a great experience, so why fix something that isn’t broken?”
Main says he felt confident in being able to run the camp because he saw a lot of the same charisma and leadership style that Jim had, within himself. He says, “I think it’s important to always be there at the camp every day. Even though I am not as hands-on as the camp counsellors are, just being there to oversee things was something that Jim taught me as being important. If I was to remove myself from it and just cross my fingers and hope that everything goes well, then I would be in it for the wrong reasons.”
Main says he’s already seen that work pay off within the last two years.
“I had two grade seven girls who came up to me at the end of the camp who asked if they could start volunteering at the camp next summer,” he says. “When you’re not asking people, and they are coming up to you making those kinds of requests, well my job is done. It makes everyone feel valued for the time they put in.”
Main says while the kids are building some fundamental basketball skills during the camp, he says he hopes what they really take away is sportsmanship, teamwork, and hustle.
“We have a camp award called the “Camp Hustle” award for who shows the most sportsmanship and energy and who shows they are trying their hardest. They might not be the best player, but they are on the court trying their hardest and it’s really fun picking out who gets that award.”
He adds, “Being able to show sportsmanship and shake hands at the end of every game, that’s a life skill. Being able to lose well is a life skill. I’m hoping that at the end of the day, I’m making these kids fall in love with basketball and they will want to go out and use community spaces to play basketball and be confident enough to try out for the basketball teams at their schools while they are learning the value of teamwork and sportsmanship and can become a high functioning member of society.”
Main says the sport itself is becoming bigger and bigger in North Bay and it is great to see some new amenities geared towards that.
“The basketball courts downtown are a big deal for the city. Before those were built, there were no real options for public places you could find a net to shoot on. Now that we have those courts, not only are they available for everyone and anyone to play on, but we’re hosting tournaments there now and attracting people to the city for basketball events. It’s cool to see everything taking shape and we’re being recognized as a basketball city.”
If you have a story idea for “Pursuit” send Matt an email at [email protected]
