Basketball Team Gears Up for Winning Season with Bonding Excursion on Lake Merritt
As a kid growing up in Oakland, Keenan McMiller says he was blessed to experience the outdoors participating in YMCA summer camps and camping trips with his family. He loved hiking and kayaking and found he was most peaceful in those situations.
Fast forward a couple of decades, and the city kid who loves the outdoors is now head basketball coach at Merritt College and plans team-building excursions every year before the season. Last year the team went on a ropescourse. This year he surprised them.
“All I said was ‘wear something warm,’ and we headed for the Lake Merritt Boathouse for an experience most of them had never had,” says Coach McMiller. “I wanted to take them out of their comfort zone. They were forced to work as a team because they were all in one dragon boat and 20 of them have to row together and be synchronized.”
For Derek Bell, an Oakland native who had been in a boat just once in middle school, the lesson worked. “I’d never done
anything like that before especially with so many people, “ says Derek. “It was a good experience because we got to know each other better, and we felt more united working together to accomplish a task, the same as we do while we are playing basketball. We had a blast. I’d like to do it again.”
It is not surprising that Coach McMiller, who has a degree in sports psychology, experience teaching ecology, and years of playing and coaching basketball, would plan a trip like this, followed by pizza at La Val’s in Alameda and bonding exercises. He knows just what he’s doing.
“It’s important that all student athletes in the Merritt College Men’s Basketball Program are pushed to be well rounded—striving academically, volunteering in the community, and enjoying life learning experiences outside of playing basketball.”
For the 2013 and 2015 seasons, the Thunderbirds went to the Final Four in the State Championships. This year he hopes to go all the way. “They really trusted me as a leader on the trip, and it’s experiences like this that bring the team together and make them hungry to win,” he says. “Plus we have great support at Merritt with people coming out to the games and bringing their kids. It feels great.”
Mark your calendar: The first Men’s Basketball home game is December 20 against College of Marin. Come and cheer them on!
—Susan May
tball Teams Gears Up for Winning Season with Bonding Excursion on Lake Merritt
As a kid growing up in Oakland, Keenan McMiller says he was blessed to experience the outdoors participating in YMCA summer camps and camping trips with his family. He loved hiking and kayaking and found he was most peaceful in those situations.
Fast forward a couple of decades, and the city kid who loves the outdoors is now head basketball coach at Merritt College and plans team-building excursions every year before the season. Last year the team went on a ropes course. This year he surprised them.
“All I said was ‘wear something warm,’ and we headed for the Lake Merritt Boathouse for an experience most of them had never had,” says Coach McMiller. “I wanted to take them out of their comfort zone. They were forced to work as a team because they were all in one dragon boat and 20 of them have to row together and be synchronized.”
For Derek Bell, an Oakland native who had been in a boat just once in middle school, the lesson worked. “I’d never done anything like that before especially with so many people, “ says Derek. “It was a good experience because we got to know each other better, and we felt more united working together to accomplish a task, the same as we do while we are playing basketball. We had a blast. I’d like to do it again.”
It is not surprising that Coach McMiller, who has a degree in sports psychology, experience teaching ecology, and years of playing and coaching basketball, would plan a trip like this, followed by pizza at La Val’s in Alameda and bonding exercises. He knows just what he’s doing.
“It’s important that all student athletes in the Merritt College Men’s Basketball Program are pushed to be well rounded—striving academically, volunteering in the community, and enjoying life learning experiences outside of playing basketball.”
For the 2013 and 2015 seasons, the Thunderbirds went to the Final Four in the State Championships. This year he hopes to go all the way. “They really trusted me as a leader on the trip, and it’s experiences like this that bring the team together and make them hungry to win,” he says. “Plus we have great support at Merritt with people coming out to the games and bringing their kids. It feels great.”
Mark your calendar: The first Men’s Basketball home game is December 20 against College of Marin. Come and cheer them on!
—Susan May