College students use break to teach hoop skills to kids

It’s winter break, time for college students to sleep late, hang out with friends, and sit around their parents’ houses.

This week, one group of college kids broke that mold.

They woke up early Monday, got out of the house, and offered their time, advice and basketball skills to younger kids.

Everett’s Phil Hoban, a 20-year-old sophomore at Santa Clara University, started his holiday basketball clinic four years ago. At the time, he was a junior and stand-out basketball player at Archbishop Murphy High School. He called his clinic Philz Skillz.

“Philz Skillz — we tease him about that,” said Daniel Olson, who was home in Everett from the California Maritime Academy on Monday and helping Hoban with the basketball camp. “We’re here for break. It’s a way to give back,” Hoban said.

Before high school, they were classmates at Everett’s Immaculate Conception &Our Lady of Perpetual Help School. It was four years ago, in the Immaculate gym, that Hoban first presented Philz Skillz. He and his helpers were back at their grade school alma mater Monday for the first of two sessions.

In the morning, 54 players from local Catholic Youth Organization teams — fourth through eighth-graders — learned secrets of rebounding, defense positioning and other winning basketball moves.

“The kids love it,” said Pat Doud, director of Immaculate Conception’s CYO program. Doud said coaches, not just kids, get tips from the program. “Philz Skillz gets our basketball season off to a great start,” he said.

This year, for the first time, Philz Skillz came to the Everett Boys &Girls Club. About 25 kids, many of them on basketball teams with the club, showed up for the free clinic that taught more than hoops skills.

Several times during the clinic, Whatcom Community College student Rayme Rogge shouted out a life lesson. “What should we be eating to play basketball?” Rogged asked the kids. A hand shot up, and a boy posed his answer: “Energy bars?” Rogge filled in the menu: fruits, vegetables and lots of water.

An Everett High School graduate, Rogge covered other off-court topics, including the importance of school. “All of us big kids here focus on school. Get your homework done,” Rogge told the kids. She told them that to be on a team in middle school or high school, “you have to keep your grades up.”

At Archbishop Murphy, Hoban was captain of his Wildcats basketball team, which went to the playoffs both of his varsity years. He played AAU basketball in Seattle through high school. At Santa Clara, a Jesuit university in California’s Silicon Valley, he is studying economics and international business.

Basketball is still part of his life. Hoban plays on a team that takes on club teams from other colleges in that area.

“I want to come back and live in Everett,” he said Monday. “I miss it.”

Nick Hamblet, athletic director at the Everett Boys &Girls Club, said the Everett club has 33 basketball teams, kindergarten through high school.

Brando Dinthongsai, a 10-year-old who attends Everett’s Penny Creek Elementary School, is on one of those teams. “He loves it. We just got him a basketball,” said his sister Ann Dinthongsai, 23. She was at the Boys &Girls Club on Monday watching her brother take shots and try out defense strategies.

Loila Bloomfield was there, too, while her 8-year-old son joined in the Philz Skillz camp. A third-grader at Whittier Elementary School, Ty Bloomfield wore his Everett Seagulls Youth Football jersey as he learned new tricks for basketball season.

“Kids love it when older kids are helping them,” Bloomfield said. “I’m proud of these college kids taking so much time on their break. They’re so patient. It’s pretty nice.”

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Cassie Franklin, Mayor of Everett, delivers the annual state of the city address Thursday morning in the Edward D. Hansen Conference Center in Everett, Washington on March 31, 2022.  (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
At Everett mayor’s keynote speech: $35 entry, Boeing sponsorship

The city won’t make any money from the event, city spokesperson Simone Tarver said. Still, it’s part of a trend making open government advocates wary.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.