Alabama Adapted Athletics hosts summer camp

By WVUA Sports Reporter Molly Harrold

Alabama Adapted Athletics started its annual summer camp at Stran-Hardin Arena, with over 60 campers in attendance. 

The first three days of camp consist of drills, skill work, and gameplay coached by current Alabama men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball players. 

Among the campers are high school graduates and soon-to-be Alabama athletes. One in particular, Mary McLendon, a Helena High School graduate, has been coming to this camp for six years and will be an incoming freshman in the fall. This camp, however, has made a lasting impact on McLendon. 

“The connections I’ve made make me want to keep coming back. I’ve always been an Alabama fan and it’s close to home,” said McLendon.

She committed to play wheelchair basketball at Alabama earlier this year and is excited to be a part of such a successful program that she has been dreaming of playing for since she was a little girl. 

Alabama men’s wheelchair basketball commit, Preston Howell, has been coming to this camp for six years and was set on Alabama from the start. More than anything he realized how much the university poured into the adapted athletics program.

“It’s the best of the best in the country. There’s nothing else that compares to it. There’s no other camp like this and it has to do a whole lot with the coach and the players,” said Howell. 

Campers will spend overnight at the university to get the whole Alabama athletics experience. 

The camp runs through Saturday, when the kids will put their skill work to the test and compete in the Championship Tournament. The final game is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at Stran-Hardin Arena.