Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs girls basketball coach Bruce Alston will open a preseason camp starting Monday at the high school.

"It isn't mandatory," Alston said of the camp. "But it's a chance for some of our players to get back in the gym and start getting back into shape."

The coach said the girls team's first official practice of the season would come on Nov. 11, according to Colorado High School Activities Association rules.

Alston's preseason camp is open to any player and will stress conditioning and fundamental skills. Alston said the coaches would not start working on specific elements like the high school team's offense and defense until after the official practices start.

The first session will take place from 4 p.m. until 5:45 p.m. The five-day camp will run Monday through Friday.

The boys team opened it's camp last Wednesday and will also continue through this Friday.

Both Alston and Kelly Meek feel that the preseason camps are a good time to work on the basics and to reintroduce the players to their system.

Alston said that many of his players were either on the cross-country team or the girls volleyball teams, so he is anticipating that they will return in pretty good shape.

However, he added that the camp is also a good place for players who did not compete in fall sports to get back into shape before the official start of the season.

The coach also thinks the camp is a good place for students who are not sure if basketball is the right sport to give it a try.

"That's one of the reasons we open it up to everybody," Alston said. "We want to give students who are not familiar with the team a chance to come out and get a feel for what we are all about."

Boys and girls basketball are just two of the winter sports offered at the high school. Practice for Steamboat's wrestling and skiing teams will also be getting underway in the upcoming weeks.