Yuma Catholic summer basketball camp grows to 44 young players

The Cactus League Camp at Yuma Catholic drew 44 young players this summer, 12 more than the previous year, as the school’s basketball program kept building a local pipeline for boys and girls in Yuma County. The camp pulled athletes from across the Desert Southwest and turned the high school gym at 2100 W. 28th St. in Yuma into a June training site for the next age group.

Yuma Catholic’s 2026 registration materials listed the Cactus League as running from June 2 to June 25 for boys and girls entering fourth through sixth grade. The school said the camp was designed to teach fundamental skills, teamwork and sportsmanship, and earlier promotional materials said current Yuma Catholic coaches and players would lead the sessions. That gave the younger athletes direct contact with the people inside the high school program, not just outside instructors.

The camp mixed instruction, drills, evaluations and games, with Thurman Schaetzle overseeing the effort as Yuma Catholic’s head boys basketball coach. Members of Schaetzle’s program helped coach the younger players, building a mentorship layer that let high school athletes give back while showing the basics of Yuma Catholic basketball up close. Schaetzle said the kids were competing, having fun and getting to play against people they often already knew through school or AAU basketball.

Yuma Catholic also ran a separate Shamrock Skills Camp from June 23 to June 25 for boys and girls entering third through eighth grade. That camp was set up as a three-day session focused on fundamental skill development, games and coaching instruction from Yuma Catholic coaches and players, broadening the school’s summer basketball offerings beyond one age group.

The growth matters in a county where families often look for organized summer options that keep kids active and local. The City of Yuma Parks & Recreation department also offers youth sports programming, but Yuma Catholic’s camps give area families another on-campus path into organized basketball. Yuma Catholic describes itself as a co-educational Catholic high school serving Yuma County and surrounding areas, and its boys basketball program is listed in 3A West for 2025-26, placing the camp inside a competitive high school environment that reaches well beyond the school’s own enrollment.