HARVEST- The sounds of laughter. The looks of joy. Those were just some of the noticeable results from the sixth annual Harvest Youth Club Richard Hendrix Basketball Camp featuring current professional basketball player Richard Hendrix.

“Not only did our youngsters learn about basketball and the skills needed for the sport, but the camp is another great way to make positive relationships for the next generation,” said Melvin Allen, director of the Harvest Youth Club since 2000. “Richard is an ideal positive role model and we couldn’t have asked for a better person to connect with young people.”

Hendrix, a graduate of nearby Athens High and four-year performer for the University of Alabama, where he was the 49^th pick  in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors, has been a 10-year professional player with his most current team based in Istanbul, Turkey of the Turkish Basketball Super League. His family, consisting of his wife of five years and their two-year old son along with his parents, Venard and Valerie Hendrix, both retired educators, all remain in the immediate area so coming home for a visit and the youth camp is like attending a family reunion with 50-plus children.

“I’ve been around basketball since I was three years old and I know from experience camps are what kids need,” said Hendrix during his stay in the Madison area. “Basketball camps teach basketball and social skills and how to follow authority. These camps are much better than the private lessons many youngsters go to for assistance. Life is not personalized for you, so why make basketball that way.”

Those attending the camp are regular visitors to the Harvest Youth Club and ranged from kindergarten to middle school ages. The 90-minute event was followed by a sit down lunch for the attendees.

During the action-packed camp, Hendrix and Club staff and volunteers helped the children focus on fundamentals and stressed the physical fitness parts of basketball. Hendrix used hands-on teaching with the youngsters and emphasized the fact the sport and the teachings surrounding the athletic endeavor cane be more than just dribbling, passing and shooting. He said, “Basketball can be a vehicle to take you wherever you want to go.”

Many of the youth in attendance have been members of the camp since its inception, which means not only do those kids continue to grow in the sport, but the constant teachings of Hendrix and the Harvest Youth Club make for a better young person.

“Yes, I’ve watched some of these kids grow in more ways than just being better basketball players and that is satisfying,” said Hendrix.

Allen, a one-time superstar basketball player in his own right at Sparkman High and member of the Jacksonville State team that won the NCAA Div. II National Championship in 1985, has undertaken the role of being a leader of the youth in the area since taking his current director’s position almost two decades ago. Allen looks for each of the camp attendees to learn basketball, discipline and to see what a true professional athlete is all about.

“He (Hendrix) is an unbelievable athletic specimen. He looks good and is doing good in his life,” said Allen. “He is reality. I hope these kids look at Richard and think that is who they want to be like.”

Inspiration along with a chance to learn through hard work and discipline were the end results of a joyous day for several local youth- and a professional athlete in the small community of Harvest.