The Malibu High School (MHS) boys basketball team celebrated winning the Frontier League by pouring non-alcoholic bubbly over themselves in the locker room after their most recent regular season game.
Sharks head coach Richard Harris wants to keep the winning and celebratory times rolling for years and years to come, which is why the coach said he and his brother, Sharks assistant coach David Harris, are hosting a free basketball clinic this Saturday, Sept. 19 in the MHS gym from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
“We really want to promote a more competitive basketball environment in Malibu,” the head coach said. “We want to get kids more invested in basketball.”
The hour-and-a-half clinic is for beginning to experienced female and male hoopsters aged eight to 18. During the clinic, the two coaches will work with attendees on basketball, including passing, dribbling and shooting. Harris said he and his brother will talk to kids and their parents about the PCH Rockets — a travel basketball program the Harris brothers have started.
“This is a chance to introduce travel ball into the Malibu community,” Richard, who is heading into his second season as the Sharks head coach, said.
Richard said that having a travel basketball team based in Malibu would give all the city’s players a chance to play together and also play against players from outside the community. He said he plans for Rockets teams divided by age groups to play in the American Roundball Corporation’s (ARC) youth basketball fall league, which tipped-off last Saturday.
ARC games are played each week at gyms at North Hollywood and Calabasas high schools. Teams from across the Los Angeles area made of elementary to high school players participate in the league.
The Rockets will practice Saturdays from 9 to 10:30 a.m. and Mondays from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the MHS gym.
Richard said one thing clinic and Rockets players can expect is a lot of running.
“Conditioning will be big,” he said. “We want to make sure people are in good enough shape to do the skills and fundamentals we are teaching.”
He explained that the clinic and Rockets team are part of his effort to give Malibu a continuously winning hoops program.
In his first season as coach, MHS won the Frontier League with a 11-1 record, while posting a 13-13 overall record before bowing in the first round of the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
“We had a pretty good season last year,” Richard said. “We want to build off that. I think we will be more competitive for years to come.”
Richard said the Rockets squad offers ball players who might normally go to schools outside of Malibu a chance to be part of a local, competitive environment, and to grow in it. He mentioned that he and his coaching staff have run into a few players who live in Malibu who have gone over the hill to hoop instead of attending MHS.
“All the hype is at other schools,” he said. “When you have success, people want to be a part of success. We want kids to stay and build success.”
Harris said the Rockets would be in a competitive environment that will eventually breed success.
“A perfect world would be a kid starts playing with PCH [Rockets], plays his high school ball at Malibu and gets a scholarship to play basketball at Pepperdine,” he said.For more information, visit pchrockets.com.