SOUTHLAKE — Since he and his family have been living in Hurst for less than a year, Graham Day hasn’t had enough time to make some quality new friends.
But with the help of the Dallas Mavericks, that’s all changed.
After learning that no one attended Day’s birthday party for the second time in the past three years, the Mavs stepped in last month and invited the eight-year old to attend Hoop Camp at Southlake High School free of charge. That was the Mavs’ way of not only giving Day a memorable birthday gift, but also guaranteeing that he would meet some kids who could possibly be his friend for life.
“I can’t even begin to thank the Mavs’ organization enough for this gift, because (Graham) hadn’t been able to do sports because usually we’ve got to bring his (six-year old) brother along and it’s hard to do that,” Day’s mother, Jenny Day, said. “So this is the first time he’s gotten to be a part of something.”
Graham Day briefly dabbled in soccer, but always had a strong fascination for basketball. And the Mavs Hoop Camp ultimately opened his eyes to a world of opportunities.
Ben Hunt, the manager of camps and community basketball for the Mavs, pointed out how Graham Day’s confidence increased by the end of the five-day camp, which was his first time participating in a camp of any sort.
“He had great ability,” Hunt said. “I noticed him in the full-court drills, he was working on his left hand and his right hand dribbling. You wouldn’t know it was his first basketball camp. He did a good job with his skills and listening carefully to the coaches, and then he had a lot of fun throughout the week as well with his fellow campers and new friends. Those little things that we can do that make a big difference, especially in a kid’s life. I see we accomplished that with Graham.”
More importantly, Graham Day said he made at least four new friends during his week at the Mavs Hoop Camp.
“We learned new skills and we learned how to dribble in different ways,” Graham Day said. “(And) I made new friends that I get to see for a couple of days.”
Leading up to the camp, Graham Day had inadvertently become somewhat of a local celebrity. But not for the reasons he wanted.
When it was brought to their attention that no one showed-up this past May to help Graham Day celebrate his birthday, nine policemen and four firemen from Hurst dropped what they were doing and went to his home to help him celebrate his birthday. Nine police cars and two fire trucks lined the street in Day’s neighborhood.
“The guys that went over and visited Graham that day were really excited,’’ said Steve Niekamp, the assistant chief with the Hurst Police Department. “They had a blast. It’s fun getting to come out and do stuff like that. You get tired of writing tickets and putting people in jail. It’s nice to be able to come have something that’s a little more positive.”
That’s precisely what Hunt stressed as one of the principal purposes of the Mavs Hoop Camp. The accentuation of the positive is a premium, as far as the Mavs are concerned.
“First of all it was absolutely tremendous that Graham and the family accepted our invitation to come out to the camp,” Hunt said. “He did an absolutely tremendous job and I think it was exactly what he wanted. He was having such a great time, he had a smile on his face, and he was learning the game of basketball and having a great time with the Mavericks. That’s what we’re all about – giving these kids an opportunity to shine — and there’s no better way to do that than through a Hoop Camp.”
During his special week at the Mavs Hoop Camp, Graham Day even got to meet and take pictures with Mavs guard Devin Harris. That’s a precious gift he never expected and one he’ll always treasure.
“That was really nice,” Graham Day said.
Harris, who has a unique gift for making those around him comfortable, was gracious and paid special attention to Graham while making sure this was one birthday gift he will never forget.
“If you can turn a negative into a positive, that’s a good thing,” Harris said. “I think having him here and him enjoying his time and obviously having a good time, that’s a good thing. As long as he’s having a good time now you can sort of make sure he makes as many friends as he can.”
And the Mavs are certainly in the friend-making business.
“Graham had an opportunity to meet Devin Harris, which was absolutely phenomenal,” Hunt said. “Devin was great and spent some time with him, which was wonderful. And what was the most pleasing thing of the week from certainly our perspective was seeing Graham’s interactions with others and making new friends. Once again, that’s what Hoop Camp is about is making a lot of friends, and from a family’s perspective that says a lot.”
The new experience in a new environment didn’t start off impressively for Graham Day.
“He had kind of a rough first day,” Jenny Day said. “We ended up leaving a little bit early because he made a mistake, got into the wrong line and got so badly embarrassed that he couldn’t stand to be looked at and thought everybody was looking at him, but nobody was looking at him. But he’s been sailing through this since then, and his confidence level is so much better I think that this is something we’re going to invest in doing every single year for him.”
Mitch Day also took note of the positive change in his son’s demeanor since the opening day of the camp.
“For him to get out, to have new opportunities, to learn about team building, learn about developing skills and listening to instructions and coaching, it’s a lot of benefits for him, because he doesn’t get that much of an opportunity in his home environment due to our circumstances,” Mitch Day said. “I’m really grateful that it is helping him develop skills that’ll carry through into his school year and much later in life.”
That, in a nutshell, is one of the reasons Hunt said the Mavs Hoop Camp exists.
“When we read about no one coming to his birthday party, it just broke our hearts,” Hunt said. “We wanted to do something to lift his spirits, make some memories and have a good time this summer.
I’m just so grateful and thankful that we as the Mavericks are in a position to be able to give that opportunity to such a wonderful young man and a great family. We appreciated the opportunity to have him in camp as much as they, I believe, appreciated the opportunity to be there.”
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