More than a regular old basketball camp

Javi Guzman had a defender draped on him.

Guzman, using the skills he’d been learning since Monday, got around his defender and banked in a layup. The sun beamed down on the Extraordinary Ventures courts Tuesday afternoon, but Guzman was having too much fun to quit.

“It may be hot out here, but you don’t get a lot of chances to play hard and have a great time,” Guzman said.

Guzman was taking part in the Spectrum Skills Camp for the employees of EV, an organization that creates self-sustaining businesses that employ adults with developmental disabilities.

The camp exists as one of the many social programs that EV operates, but the organization primarily acts as an employer.

Established in 2007, the organization aims to provide various job options that both tailor to the skills of developmentally disabled employees and develop skills that can be used throughout the job market.

“(Our employees) are usually in a safe environment in high school,” Paige Morrow, EV managing director, said. “All of a sudden, after they age out (at 22 years old), they are in a harsh environment with very little support.”

The organization creates its businesses with the employees in mind, even before they are hired.

“Instead of having positions and filling them, we create our businesses according to the skills and interests of the employees,” Morrow said.

But the camp acts as much more than a place to practice ball handling and layup drills for campers — it’s also a chance to learn lessons that last for a lifetime.

“Basketball is a microcosm of life,” volunteer Roger Hudson said. “You learn to work together, which they can take into any setting.”

Playing basketball also helps campers develop their fine and gross motor skills, as well as communicate and compete together, said camp director Caroline Hatley.

For Guzman, the level playing field, or rather court, is what has drawn him back for a third year at the camp.

“Everybody’s equal,” he said. “Nobody shines over the other here. It’s all about fun and working together.”

Guzman said he has enjoyed learning more about the game and practicing his moves. But the camp isn’t limited to simply teaching basketball.

Through activities such as the tour of the Carolina Basketball Museum, led by former Tar Heel basketball player Eric Montross, the campers get a chance to experience the game as much as they play it.

The campers spent time with Montross and had the opportunity to learn more about UNC basketball.

“It was incredible,” Guzman said. “To find out that (North Carolina) won a championship in 1993, the year I was born, it feels like I’m a part of history.”

While volunteers at the camp are not paid, they still feel compensated for their efforts. Just as the campers learned from the volunteers, the volunteers also learned from the campers.

“I’ve learned to not take life so seriously and enjoy the moment,” Hatley said.

Today at noon, the campers will play a scrimmage at Carmichael Arena.

And later tonight, campers will showcase their skills to friends and family in a night full of food, music and of course, basketball.

sports@dailytarheel.com