LIHU‘E — After over 30 years of teaching youngsters the importance of fundamentally sound basketball, former UH-Hilo Vulcan head coach Jimmy Yagi still has the same enthusasim he displayed since the very start. The all day clinic on Saturday at
LIHU‘E — After over 30 years of teaching youngsters the importance of fundamentally sound basketball, former UH-Hilo Vulcan head coach Jimmy Yagi still has the same enthusasim he displayed since the very start.
The all day clinic on Saturday at the Raiderdome, ranged from youths aged 9-18. A coaches clinic ended the festivities from 5 to 7 p.m.
Yagi brought along with him, Eric Yoshimura and longtime BIIF official and former Kaua‘i resident Linda Lopes, who was one of the officials for the Kaua‘i, Waimea varsity game on Friday night.
“These clinics are fun and we’d actually like to do a four-day camp, which would be a great thing for the kids,” Lopes said.
With just eight games on the regular season schedule and only a few preseason contests, for high school basketball players, clinics and camps are definitely a must for Kaua‘i hoopsters.
“Clinics and camps do so much for the kids, it helps them compete with other players from around the state, it gets them acquainted with college coaches and players, and no one is ever too old to learn the fundamentals of basketball,” Lopes said.
At age 69, Yagi still teaches the same things he does at every single camp he goes to and it never gets old for him, even though he may have aged.
“I do it for the kids and I love this sport,” Yagi said during a water break for the younger kids.
His catchy tactics, such as “Feet spread, knees bent, back straight, and looking great,” have been taught time and time again from Australia to Japan, and all around the country.
Just before coming to Kaua‘i, Yagi spent two months in Japan, where they actually named a camp in his honor, called, “The Hawaiian Jimmy Yagi Camp.” An inspiration to many, Yagi still finds the time to help out the UH-Hilo Vulcan basketball squad, who are off to a hot start this year with current head coach Jeff Law at the helm. Yagi also has time to keep up his fundamentally sound game, by taking part in recreational basketball leagues on the Big Island.
A big mahalo to the coaches who showed up, which included Kaleo Perez, Trent Shimabukuro, Fred Sasan, just to name a few. Also, The County of Kaua‘i Recreation Agency’s Sam Arashiro and Aaron Uyeda should be commended for continuing to do the Jimmy Yagi Basketball Clinic, which has been coming to Kaua‘i in January since 1991.
