Coach Nance helps kids get their heads in the game

[gallery]SANDUSKY — With the day off from school Monday, more than 150 children worked on their basketball skills with famed Cleveland basketball coach Bob Nance.Children from across the area attended the camp at Cedar Point Sports Center on Cleveland Road (U.S. 6) and learned how to improve their dribbling, footwork and shooting.After Nance showed his quick jump roping skills, participants grabbed a jump rope and used it as they traveled down the court. Nance said 10 minutes of jump roping is equivalent to 30 minutes of jogging."If you get your hand-eye coordination and agility right, you'll become very much in shape," Nance said.Men of Action Ministries, a nonprofit with the mission to work with kids and prepare them for life, sponsored the clinic. Clifton Frisby, the founder and director of the ministry, said he wanted area children to check out the new sports facility. He was amazed by the turnout. Nance impressed him, too. "Bob really concentrates on education and skills the kids can use now, on the court, and transfer off the court into everyday life," Frisby said.Along with Nance, participants also learned from basketball coach Joe C. Redrick Sr., who coached Nance. Redrick said he's enthusiastic about teaching the youth. During the clinic he wanted to instill the importance of teamwork.Redrick started playing basketball at the age of 9. He said he attended college through a basketball scholarship."Athletics gave me a vehicle to pay for the education I received so I was able to share that with the youth and tell them this is a way they can uplift their life — through basketball," Redrick said. Nance has been been a fixture in Cleveland for three decades and he also trains basketball players through his Bob Nance Basketball Academy. Together, Nance and Redrick led the two-hour skills clinic."If (the children) learned one thing from me, I did my job," Nance said.Daishun Brown Jr., 11, participates in a jump rope drill during a basketball clinic at Cedar Point Sports Center in Sandusky on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020.From left, Bob Nance, Joe C. Redrick Sr. and Clifton Frisby speak to the basketball clinic participants as they wrap up the program at Cedar Point Sports Center in Sandusky on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020.Children learn basketball skills during a clinic at Cedar Point Sports Center in Sandusky on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020.Coach Bob Nance gives encouragement during a basketball clinic on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, at Cedar Point Sports Center in Sandusky.Children work on their basketball skills during a clinic at Cedar Point Sports Center in Sandusky on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020.