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A young lawyer in Chicago trying his first case before the State Supreme Court sits alone in his office during a trial break. Convinced he'll never win a case, he hangs his head and faces failure. Then, an image of a basketball camp peeks through his discouragement. He suddenly remembers facing defeat on the basketball court at camp and hearing Dave McCracken yell, "don't give up, you can do it." The lawyer grits his teeth, goes back to the trial and wins the case.
A medical school student finally takes a break from studying at 2 o'clock in the morning. Her husband is sleeping; her baby is crying. Soon she begins crying and decides that she will never finish school. Then, she too, remembers basketball camp and McCracken. Her resolve returns, and she knows she will graduate.
Although The McCracken Basketball Camp, with its office located in the home of the owner and director on Fort Wayne's west side, is financially successful, stories such as these are the real reason Dave McCracken says with enthusiasm, "I love camp."
Campers or their parents frequently call McCracken just to tell him that his camp gave them or their child more confidence and self-esteem.
Since 1963, the McCracken Camps in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois have provided inspiration, basketball and volleyball training, and fun for a total of 63,000 campers from 49 states and 18 foreign countries.
But quantity doesn't make quality. What is the camp formula for cultivating such enduring confidence and self-esteem?
"I think the reason we have been successful in this way is because we think about the kids first," says McCracken. "We only allow so many campers to come to the camp each year because we want to be able to work individually with the kids when they are on or off the floor and let them know they are special."
And while campers learn playing skills, they also learn how to live with others, how to share, and how to take responsibility.
"Self-discipline and team work are things which a child will learn at our camps," says McCracken. "We have built one or two very tough drill sessions into the camp sessions, and it always ends up that every kid in camp...