How fortunate is Bogalusa to have not only the Legends All-Pro Football Camp in town last week, but also, a day later, the Sports Works Academy’s outstanding basketball clinic? Hopefully, the kids who attended the clinic, many of whom also attended the football camp, know just how incredible both these events are.

For the third year, Michael Galloway and Nikita Wilson have brought their Sports Works Academy (SWA) to Bogalusa following the All-Pro camp. SWA is an organization committed to bringing affordable programs to teach kids the importance of working with teams to accomplish goals, while also teaching the importance of respect and dignity. Their ultimate goal goes way beyond working on a great jump shot. Their main concern is to develop self-assurance and self-reliance in kids, while at the same time teaching basketball.

Director Michael Galloway put it this way: “You know, basketball is really secondary to what we do. What we want to really focus on is the development of structure for the kids to enable them to be successful in life.

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“I’m really, really excited about the camp this year. Our lineup of coaches, seven this year compared to four last year, each bring a different background and communicate to the kids in different ways,” he said.

“When our coaches speak to the kids they focus on things like education and academics, being a good citizen and a good family member, the importance of community service, as well as good nutrition and proper rest.

“What we’re really about is building a well-rounded individual,” Galloway concluded.

But the campers were pretty excited about learning basketball. “I like getting help to work on my dribbling,” said Ricky Watterson. Already a pretty good shooter, he was excited to have some expert help to improve his dribble, which he said was his weakest area.

Amaris Wilson was also happy to be on the basketball court. “I like the activity. It’s fun to move around a lot and have a lot of different activities and get some exercise,” she said.

Galloway and Nikita Wilson, also a director, began their mission in Bogalusa a couple of years ago after they “had a brainstorm to lend our efforts towards giving back to the community in the form of a basketball seminar,” Galloway said. It was their intention to follow the lead of Bruce Plummer, Robert and Sean Smith and the other members of the Legends All-Pro Football Camp Foundation’s outstanding football camp to provide pro-level basketball instruction to the kids of Washington Parish. Galloway and Wilson remain firmly committed to providing that to the kids of Bogalusa and the parish.

Galloway’s a former all-district point guard for the Bogalusa Lumberjacks from 1983-1985 and Nikita Wilson is a former LSU star drafted in 1987 as the 31st overall pick by the Portland Trailblazers. This year they have again brought with them Ronald Doucett, a former All-Metro standout at Joseph S. Clark High School in New Orleans and at Dillard University, where he and Galloway were teammates. He’s now a high school basketball coach in New Orleans.

Other coaches giving of their time for the camp were:

Terrence Jones, who many might remember as a high school and college All-American in football. A Lutcher High School grad in 1985, where he was also an All-State selection in basketball, Jones went on to play quarterback for the Tulane University Green Wave. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers and following his NFL career he played in the Canadian Football League for Winnipeg.

Morrell Galloway, a 1981 graduate of Bogalusa High School, was an All-District player on the Lumberjack basketball team and continued his career at Southern University. He’s also Michael Galloway’s older brother.

Pernell Robertson was an All-Metro guard at Francis T. Nicholls High School in New Orleans. After graduating in 1984 he went on to play for Dillard University, graduating in 1990.

Charlotte Caldwell was an All-State basketball player who graduated from BHS in 1990. She played her college career at the University of New Orleans, graduating in 1994.

Ken Killingsworth was a teammate of Michael Galloway’s at BHS, both of them graduating in 1985. He was an All-District selection and played college ball at both PRCC and Southeastern Louisiana University. Galloway was especially happy to add Killingsworth to his coaching staff, as he had not seen him since high school graduation.

This was an incredible lineup of basketball talent, each of whom made the time to work with Bogalusa kids to build both basketball skills and knowledge to take them through life. They all were already looking forward to returning next year.