Lady Indians coaches teach future players at Peebles basketball camp

The Peebles High School gymnasium belonged to the next generation of Lady Indians on the afternoons of May 26, 27 and 28, as varsity girls basketball coach Sidney Pell and her staff hosted the annual Pee-Wee Basketball Camp. Future Lady Indians in grades 2 through 7 filled the floor for three days of instruction, learning the basic fundamentals of the game from the program they already watch from the stands.

The camp gave younger players direct contact with the Peebles High School girls basketball program at the place where that identity is built. In a school community like Peebles, those early connections matter. Children who dribble, pass and shoot in the same gym where varsity games are played get a first look at what the Lady Indians expect, how the program teaches, and why that uniform carries weight in Adams County.

The focus stayed on development rather than competition. Pell and her staff worked with the campers on the basics, keeping the emphasis on sound basketball habits that can carry forward as the girls move through elementary school and into high school. The format fit the role small-school athletics often play in this part of the county: not just producing varsity results, but building familiarity, confidence and interest long before a player reaches the upper grades.

The Pee-Wee Camp has also become a recurring part of the Peebles summer calendar. A 2025 camp was led by Pell and JV coach Adam Carroll, and every camper went home with a camp T-shirt and a basketball. The 2024 version drew girls entering second through sixth grades, while the 2023 camp ran from May 30 through June 1 and was open to girls in grades 2 through 7. In 2019, the camp was trimmed from four days to three because of the Peebles softball team’s run to the OHSAA Final Four, a reminder that the event has long been part of the school’s athletic rhythm.

For Peebles, the value of the camp goes beyond a few afternoons of drills. It keeps young athletes active, keeps the Lady Indians visible in the community and helps create the continuity that small programs depend on. By the time these campers reach high school, many will already know the coaches, the gym and the expectations that come with representing Peebles.