Linn-Benton Basketball Club Creates a Laid Back Environment for Student Hoopers

 Walk through the doors of LBCC’s Activities Center on a random day and you can just go shoot some hoops with your friends. 

Stop by on a Tuesday or Thursday around noon and you’ll find freshman Ben Clements giving a friendly clinic on all he knows about basketball while the Linn-Benton basketball club gets some runs in.

“We all play together, I kind of act as a trainer almost,” he said. 

Clements, alongside club advisor Josiah Hunt, create a casual atmosphere that, in the words of Clements, is meant to be “an opportunity to help everyone grow their skillset and get better.”

“Sometimes it’s hard with a busy schedule to exercise between classes,” said freshman member Jorge Aquino. "It's very important and just playing ball is such a good way to do it.”  

Obviously, doing exercises in the form of activities you enjoy is much more gratifying, and makes it easier to build healthy habits.

Many outdoor parks, especially around this time of year, don't have much basketball activity. So unless you’re on a team or have friends that want to play in the cold, you’re stuck shooting around alone.

“I was told there was interest in getting a basketball club together,” Hunt said. “I love basketball, I love being with students, it’s the perfect way to get people together. I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

Clements and Hunt, who works in the college’s Center for Teaching Excellence, are both natural coach/leader types, coaching while playing and focusing on growing as a group. Clements admits that, if enough people were interested, he would just be out there running drills for hours.

Club sports are a mainstay on campuses all over the nation. According to LB’s Student Leadership office, there is some interest in creating a club soccer team as well – meaning there may be even more options for club sports at LB in the future. 

Providing students with opportunities to connect and expand a skillset is a great thing, and it’s pretty dang easy. Any sport you can think of, you can try to make a club by reaching out to Student Leadership, located right next to the RoastRunners coffee shot adjacent to the courtyard.

“I just wanted to get something together, even if it was small, just a shoot around to meet people. That was just a few months ago and now we’re here,” Clements said.

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