Professional basketball team puts on clinics for beginners
DeNia Goodman-Campbell appreciates what the Vancouver Volcanoes have to offer.
And not just during basketball season.
Vancouver’s professional basketball team doesn’t start playing its season until March, but the team’s brand remains in Clark County throughout the year.
That includes outreach from the coaches to area youth.
Goodman-Campbell’s son is 8-year-old Liam “Jules” Goodman, and Jules has plans every Saturday these days, picking up basketball skills from the Volcanoes at the Marshall Center.
“They’re taking it step by step,” Goodman-Campbell said of the clinic’s approach. This is for children, for beginners. And it is just the basics.
“We aren’t teaching anything advanced right now,” said Curtis Hill, team market owner for the Volcanoes and one of the team’s three head coaches.
“This is his favorite thing of the week,” Goodman-Campbell said.
That is the perfect review for Hill and the Volcanoes.
“We just wanted to get out there in the community and give back to the youth,” Hill said. “This is what we’re all about. It’s bigger than showing up for a game and playing a game. We have to give back to the community, as well.”
This upcoming season will be the second year for the renewed Vancouver Volcanoes. Last season’s return of the franchise got off to a slow start. The pandemic was still a bigger concern after last winter, and the first part of the season was played with no fans for home games.
Year 2 of this version of the Volcanoes should see a full season of fan-friendly entertainment.
But keeping the word out that the Volcanoes remain in town all year is important, too. The coaches run the clinics, and players show up to help out from time to time, as well.
“You always take the time to be able to mentor,” said Calvin Hampton, also a head coach. “This whole thing is geared up through mentorship. Coaches, players, we take time to give back.”
Mary Stade is on board with the Volcanoes this season, too. She is one of the three head coaches. She was an assistant with Salem last year and was the interim head coach for four games.
Now, she is a Volcano, and she appreciates helping out on Saturday’s with the clinic for the younger generation, too.
“Wherever basketball is, that’s where the experience is,” she said.
From the very basics to the professional ranks, it is basketball.
The basketball clinics run through December 17. For more information, go to: https://vancouvervolcanoes.com/youthclinics/
Also read:
- The Study of Sports Podcast Dec. 30, 2025: A look ahead to 2026 with WIAA amendments, a year in review in high school sports, plus remembering the Mariners’ magical run
The latest Study of Sports Podcast looks ahead to proposed WIAA amendments, reviews high school sports in 2025, and reflects on the Seattle Mariners’ memorable run. - Virginia Rodeman defies limits and wins No-Gi World Championship in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Battle Ground athlete Virginia Rodeman won two divisions at the No-Gi World Championship in Las Vegas, continuing an eight-year rise in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition. - High school sports: Pac Coast Wrestling to showcase some of the best in the Northwest and beyond
Clark County will host major high school sports events next week, highlighted by the Pac Coast Wrestling Championships in Ridgefield and holiday basketball tournaments featuring local teams. - Columbia River salmon and steelhead endorsement goes into effect Jan. 1
Beginning Jan. 1, anglers 15 and older must purchase a Columbia River salmon and steelhead endorsement to fish for those species in the Columbia River and many Washington tributaries. - High school girls basketball: Union Titans give Brooklynn Haywood a homecoming in Alaska
Union traveled to Anchorage for two games that allowed Brooklynn Haywood to play in front of her hometown crowd while the Titans bonded through travel, cold weather, and on-court adversity.
