Young Lincoln basketball players participate in Camp for a Cause

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Kids from in and around Lincoln headed to the Lincoln Sports Foundation on Thursday for an annual basketball camp with a greater purpose.

Camp for a Cause is a free camp that helps kids from fourth grade through high school on the court and off by giving them a chance to shoot hoops and give back.

Peter Ferguson started the camp about 10 years ago to provide opportunities for youth, primarily young girls, to sharpen their skills and think about basketball after high school.

“You got some young ladies here, and we’ve got some young men here this this year, that want to pursue and know what going to post-secondary education will look like, possibly playing college basketball,” he said.

Ferguson said the camp’s admission has remained free thanks to support from sponsors and the community. He says participants not only learn skills on the court but off it as well.

“We talk about leadership, teamwork, character,” he said. “They all came with it; we’re not giving it to them.”

Instead, he said the goal is to help them package those qualities together and “see those things executed.”

For the past three years, the camp has collaborated with the College of St. Mary’s women’s basketball team.

Head coach Kirk Walker and a few scholar athletes helped run drills, answered questions and more.

Walker said the camp provides a chance for his players to coach and see a different side of the game and learn how to teach the skills that seem “so simple to them.”

“And then they’re trying to give that wisdom and that knowledge to players out here,” he said.

His involvement with the camp started when he recruited Ferguson’s daughter to UNO, where he was the head coach at the time. From there, the relationship has grown further.

“I think what Pete’s doing here and trying to get these kids involved and, you know, engaged in basketball and activity like that, it just fits what we do.”

For upcoming Crete High School junior Lesli Kratochvil, this is a chance for her to get more work in the offseason.

“I’m here because it’s just a great opportunity to learn and get new skills and just work in the offseason,” she said. “It’s helping me learn, like, better teamwork.”

Every year, the camp chooses a cause to raise money for. This year, the Alzheimer’s Association was selected.

Ferguson said he has a close connection with the disease.

“My mom had it for 12-plus years, and so my daughter saw that with her growing up,” he said. “So we just provide an opportunity optional for people to give. We supported the food bank and other entities. And so we had some people write some checks, and we’ll give that on behalf of the camp.”

By the end of the day, the camp raised over $250 thanks to those donations and the camp’s shooting challenge, in which $1 was donated for every shot made.

Ferguson said if his mom could see what the camp has become, she would be very proud.

“My mom grew up in a time she couldn’t play sports, black female, born in the 1930s,” he said. “To see some of these young ladies in the gym today, I mean, to be honest, like she’d be, you know, grinning ear to ear.”