There was a time when summer camp for youngsters meant: swimming, hikes, cookouts that meant 9 p.m. dinners (maybe); and reclining under the stars, that meant sleeping on the ground which felt like rocks, and for good reason: they were there first and let your back know that.

There’s a lot to be learned from all of the above, but between June 2 and June 6, some Llano high school kids got an English lesson--a 94-foot court replaced the lake, man-to-man defense replaced hiking, a basketball replaced the rock (hey, some people call it a rock!), a whistle replaced campfire singing, and Jerry English was the head counselor.

“It was a very tiring week,” English said, “but it energized me.” That’s no surprise. This Kingsland man has coached high school girls for more than three decades; he’s won close to 940 games--one of those was in 1994 when Dripping Springs captured the Class 3A state championship. He’s now in his “second career” as the coach at Marble Falls’ Faith Academy.

“I think camps are invaluable,” English declared, “because constant playing is going in the wrong direction. I’m seeing sloppier and sloppier ball handling and poor shot selection and shooting form.”

At camp you see drills, and everything that happens on a Tuesday or Friday night in winter occurs in endless repetition, but the scrimmaging is almost a rumor, because English feels too much playing does not reinforce the fundamentals.

“At first, it was hard getting back into basketball shape,” Llano point-guard Ashley Schroeder said, “but the last couple of days we were here, we were hustling all over the court.” While Shcroeder, who will be a junior in August, could be seen driving to the hoop, Caitlin Coffey was scrambling for loose balls.

“There was no lack of intensity,” Coffey pointed out, “and I think Coach English took away the fear, or most of it, of facing the press and getting out of defensive traps.” Caitlin, who will be a senior, faces the “minor” challenge of getting all the rebounds Jimee Jensen and Cierra Thompson collected this past season and carried them off with their diplomas.

Schroeder had a word or two about that. “I think our guards will have to get more boards and block out more.” On another phase of 2008-09, she advised: “Our quickness will improve, and that will improve our fast breaks.”

“Both Ashley and Caitlin are highly skilled, and they play with such energy,” English stated. They were two of the two dozen girls at the varsity camp. They represented Marble Falls, Faith Academy and Burnet as well as Llano. Other Jackets on hand for the 15 hours of hardwood study were Karina Pieratt and Teri Bedard.

“Llano is a class program,” English, a class-act himself, mentioned, “and I always bow to its coaches and the others, too, but I think it’s good to get away sometime from what you see between August and June and learn a different philosophy of the game.”

English also indicated it wouldn’t hurt his feelings too much if every girl did not put every piece of advice into her backpack and wrote an essay for her teammates on, “How I spent my summer vacation.”

The coach’s final words are ones, though, no student of the game will contradict: “If you play hard, good things will happen.”