About us new – Camp Rondo

Message from Coach Bibby

Greetings Parents,

My name is Coach Doug Bibby, Director and Organizer of Camp Rondo. In the past month, we have received many emails with great questions regarding the camp, its organizational structure, and the daily activities. Most of these questions will be answered in an email that will be sent to all parents approximately a week prior to your child’s session.

In the meantime, I wanted to take this opportunity to briefly introduce myself, and more importantly, inform you of how the camp operates regarding your child. For starters, I am presently the Head Boys Varsity Basketball coach and College Algebra Math teacher at Central High School in Louisville, KY. I also had the pleasure of coaching Rajon Rondo for 3 of his high school years at Eastern High School, also located in Louisville.

Rajon and I started “Camp Rondo” in 2007. Camp Rondo has grown from 200 campers, at that time, to currently more than 600 campers. Coaching basketball and teaching the fundamentals of the game are my true passions, and something that I take great pride in. I don’t want your child to just play basketball, rather, I would like for them to be basketball players. At Camp Rondo, we work extremely hard to insure that your child is introduced and taught basketball skills, in an organized and fun filled environment. In addition to playing at least 2 basketball games a day, we also have competitions in which each child participates (hot shot, free throw, and 3 point to name a few). We also have a statement at Camp Rondo, where we tell the kids… “Before you play the game, you must learn the game.” Hence, each day, and before the fun and games begin, we have all campers to go through 10 instructional stations that cover all aspects of learning and practicing the game of basketball. This includes ball handling, offense, defense, rebounding and many more skills that make good ball players great. Whether your camper is just learning to play basketball, or has been playing for years, Camp Rondo will meet all of their instructional needs in a way that’s easy and fun to learn.

My experience as a teacher has shown me the importance of creating a great learning environment at Camp Rondo. I hire over 30 counselors and staff to ensure that we have no more than a 10 camper to 1 counselor ratio. This ratio allows our campers to obtain the following:

1) Focused one-on-one instruction

2) Plenty of repetition practicing

3) Learning basketball skills in an organized environment

Our counselors have a vast knowledge of the game, are very hard working, and share the same thoughts and passion on how I think the game should be taught and played. These counselors consist of former players that I coached, active college/overseas players, and my peers that are local and statewide middle school, high school and college coaches. Most of these counselors have been with us since the beginning of Camp Rondo.

Lastly, my son actually participated in all of the camps growing up throughout the summers. Our main priority at Camp Rondo is to ensure that your child is getting to enjoy all of the things that we have listed above, in a safe and healthy environment. Your child will compete in all activities in his or her own age group; from shooting around in the morning, to playing games in the afternoon. In addition to counselors coaching and mentoring your child and their respective teams, I also have 4 assistants (who are high school coaches and teachers as well), to watch and supervise each age specific division. At Camp Rondo, we not only strive to teach your child to be a good basketball player, but also to help teach your child how to be a great person. We start each day with the “Word of the Day” and discuss with the campers the importance of these words. The words used throughout the week are: Academics, Rest & Diet, Work Ethic, Team Work and Character. Each day we assign 2 different campers on each team to be the Honorary “Captains of the Day”. Their responsibilities are to help their coach with the team, and to remind the team of the word for the day. At the end of each day, we acknowledge each of those captains, give them a special Camp Rondo Gift, and take their picture for Camp Rondo’s website. Every child in the camp will be selected as “Camper Captain of the Day”.

I hope that this email gives you more insight on what our goals are at Camp Rondo. I personally believe that we run one of the best camps in the country, for one of the best players in the world. Rajon is the back bone of our camps success… He loves interacting with the kids (don’t be surprised if he is on the court playing with your child), will be at each camp at least 3 days during the week, and will have a picture and autograph session with each child. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected]. Don’t forget to register your child as quickly as possible at www.camprondo.com if you haven’t done so already. This year’s camp will definitely sell out! Our Camp Rondo family looks forward to seeing your family this summer!!!

Regards,

Coach Doug Bibby