MVP, the premier Jewish Orthodox Boys Basketball Camp at Camp Seneca Lake, under the Direction of Irv Bader and Judah Rhine, celebrated its sixth consecutive season of record breaking registration and enrollment. Over 200 MVP Players, four divisions, and 30 teams participated, with over 120 games played over the course of five days! The games were competitive and exciting with many last-minute buzzer-beater endings.
This year’s MVP featured players with all levels of playing ability. 3rd graders joined MVP along with players in grades 4 thru 12, representing many schools throughout the tri-state area including: Yavneh, Noam, YNJ, Moriah, Ashar, TABC, Frisch, JEC, Haftr, HALB, HANC, North Shore Hebrew Academy, YCQ, Har Torah, SAR, Ramaz, Derech HaTorah, MTA, Rambam, MAY, DRS, Kushner, and others. Some of the counselor/coaches were former MVP players and were able to give over their experiences to the MVP players from their own time at MVP.
Upon arrival, each MVP Player received his very own new Royal Blue reversible MVP Jersey featuring the New MVP logo. Each day was filled with a jam-packed schedule starting with shachris, followed by breakfast and then a series of activities including conditioning clinics, swimming, including the GIANT Slide, and league games. After lunch, there were visits to Seneca Sprinkles Ice Cream Parlor, 3-on-3, and 2-on-2 competitions and much, much more. New events added this year were the 1-on-1 and Knockout Competitions for each grade. After dinner, all MVP Players went to the shul for mincha and maariv.
Following the night games, and the nightly individual skills contests for each grade (and a movie for juniors), the late night barbeques each night gave all the MVP players across all the divisions and schools, the opportunity to interact and meet up with each other. The X-Box Room was also open to allow the players to wind down after a full day of on-the-court activities. Special events that took place included the Annual Spectacular MVP Challenge Competition. On the final day of MVP 2014, the championship games for each division were played at beautiful Seneca Park (featuring stadium seating), as well as on the blue and orange MVP courts. They were followed by lunch and the Annual Closing Award Ceremonies, which featured over 100 trophies distributed to champions from all the many competitions featured during the course of the week, including the MVP awards to the MVP’s of each division. Once all the busses were boarded, every MVP player was so excited to receive his very own MVP Klipped Kippah.
In reviewing this year’s MVP Experience, Co-Director Judah Rhine stated, “This was by far our best season ever. There is something here for everyone. Every camper is truly an MVP.”
MVP was privileged to once again have NBA Hall of Famer Nate “Tiny” Archibald–the only player in NBA History to lead the NBA in both scoring and assists in the same season– join us. All the MVP players had the opportunity to meet “Tiny,” take pictures and receive autographs. Everyone benefited from his visit, both on and off the court.
In addition, joining us was Elliot Steinmetz, the new head coach at Yeshiva University; Barry Neuberger, Associate Athletic Director at Columbia University; Andy Weitzen, Head Coach of Ramaz Middle School Varsity, as well as others, who gave multiple clinics to all the MVP players.
MVP has already started planning for MVP 2015 which promises to be even better! Please continue to check the Seneca website, www.senecalake.com and click on the MVP link for information on MVP 2015, and to check out pictures from this past season. Once again, this past season’s registration was sold out, which resulted in a waiting list. Please make sure to register early so you don’t get closed out.
For more information, go to www.senecalake.com and click on the MVP link or contact Judah Rhine at [email protected] or Irv Bader at [email protected].
