Kids flock to camp for Mr Basketball

POPULAR: Pero Cameron returns home to Northland once again to help inspire a new generation of Tall Blacks.PHOTO/FILE

NORTHLAND basketball legend Pero Cameron returns to where it all started to help nurture the province's young players at a training camp on Monday.

Te Tai Tokerau Basketball Association's Kim Wells said having "Mr Basketball" at the Jump Start Basketball Camp at the ASB Stadium at Kensington had already created a buzz around the event.

"It's huge to have Pero home, especially with the recent news that he's going back to the Saints ... he's coming up on Sunday because he's currently watching his own children play on the Gold Coast," he said.

The Australian-based Cameron has recently announced a move back to coach the Wellington Saints in the New Zealand National Basketball League after twice taking them to victory in his last tenure as coach in 2010-13.

The former Tall Black star was coaching at the Waikato Pistons last year but the club pulled out of the 2015 season and the Saints were only too keen to recruit their former coach.

Wells said the news of Cameron's participation has already had an impact on the pre-enrolments at the basketball camp.

"Last year we only had about 35 at the camp but this year we've already got 55 signed up. We're expecting a few more to wander in at 9am on Monday, when the camp starts," she said.

She said no-one will be turned away at the door.

"How are we to know that some kid won't turn up who is screaming for this opportunity that doesn't actually play on a regular basis but would love to be here," he said.

Cameron's sister Jody - a promising women's coach - and another former Tall Black, Byron Vaetoe, will also be welcomed back on to the well-worn floors of the ASB Stadium during the camp.

The Jump Start Camp will run for three days starting on Monday with a newly added format of "games night" for the parents to see what hard work their kids have put in.