Oliver Daily News: How did you end up in Belgium?

McKay: During the spring of 1994, I was playing in a tournament in Berlin for the National Team, in preparation for the World Championships. One of the top Division 1 teams was there to scout players, and they approached me after our game against Russia. They said they liked me but wanted to see the next game against the home team, Germany. I had a good game- scored 15 in the first half, and came out after we had a comfortable lead. That night I signed a contract to play in Waterloo (Braine L’ Alleud, to be precise), for a team nicknamed “The Beavers”. My apartment was located on the exact spot where the Battle of Waterloo took place, and the huge bronze monument of a lion commemorating the event was the dominant feature of my living room window. Being a lover of history, Belgium is a cool place to live- it is the center of so many epic battles, many involving Canadians. Perhaps not so strangely, I feel somewhat at home here, but not entirely.

ODN: How did the camp come about? Always at SOSS? Any other locations? When do you come? Every year, every other year, etc…. Boys and girls? Special Needs?

McKay: I had always wanted to do a basketball camp in Oliver. The problem was, I was never at home in the summer- I was always playing with Team Canada somewhere. 10 years playing basketball non-stop is physically very difficult, and in 1995 I decided to stop playing for Canada and concentrate on my professional career. This left the summers open for me to finally spend some time in Oliver with my family, and start thinking about running a proper basketball camp for the community that had given me so much support. After a couple trial runs, Nothin’ But Net officially started in 2002, with the help of former UVic teammate Mo Basso and Team Canada teammate Joey Vickery. Since the beginning, we have had 12 professional basketball players, two of them being female, to come to Oliver to coach at NBN. The interest in basketball in Oliver apparently never left- in fact, it continues to increase.
In the past, we used SOSS and OES to run our camps. This made sense, since 95% of our campers were local, and attended our schools. However, due to increasingly high gym rental fees, we decided- with the gracious permission and endorsement of the OIB- to move our camp to Sen Pok Chin. Their gym is air conditioned, modern, and perfect for our needs. Their staff is excellent and accommodating, and last year the kids loved it.

The point of Nothin’ But Net from the start was to provide young people in Oliver with a unique opportunity to attend an affordable basketball camp run by professional basketball players. I had to bring coaches in from out of province, so in order to keep camp fees to a minimum, we have to rely on sponsorship. Luckily, we have excellent local and corporate support from people who understand the importance of youth community sport.

I come back to Oliver every year, whenever I can, without fail. It’s home.

NBN is an annual event, and usually takes place in July. It is for boys and girls, and we run 2 separate camps. The “Rookie Camp” is for boys and girls entering grade 4-7 (we occasionally accept the odd 2nd or 3rd grader), and the “Pro Camp” is for boys and girls entering grade 8-12.

So far we have not had any requests to accommodate for special needs campers, but it is an excellent point. At Nothin’ But Net, our level of experience, compassion, and professionalism would allow for accommodation of many disabilities.

Any time an athlete from a small town gets the opportunity to compete at the highest level, it should be his or her responsibility to teach what they have learned and experienced to younger people in their community. The reason for this is simple: elite athletes are indeed physically talented, and because of this, they get the best coaching, play against the best competition, and get to travel around the world playing a game. Obviously we have a lot to teach about our sport, but just as importantly, we have a lot of incredible experiences to share. The coaches at my camp have played all around the world, against famous players, for well known coaches, and in incredible places- their stories are all inspirational. Athletes like me really need to share what we know with kids about commitment, dedication, hard work, time management, and perhaps most importantly, the unparalleled feeling of being part of a team and accomplishing a goal together.

See the link to registration forms on the advertising column at the right.