2015-07-26

【Aiden in English】

        Basketball, up until now, became a game in which everything was fun and nothing was challenging. But at a summer camp of kids who all wish for a challenge, where each and every kid plays his heart out, it gets difficult.

        The 76ers Overnight Camp is really a hardcore, pure, all basketball camp that requires a camper to sleepover in a room with a roommate, and daily routine runs from 8 o’clock in the morning to 9:45pm at night.

        The first day was all about settling into the camp’s programs and surroundings. The 76ers borrowed Valley Forge Military Academy for the camp, using its dorms and courts. There were a total of 12 operational courts, four of which are indoors. The place also has a mess hall and a canteen. The canteen is another word for “lounge” since it has TVs and videogames, and kids can buy snacks with their own money. There also is a pool and paintball, but I wasn’t interested in either. What I was pretty curious about was the set up of the games. Later, an announcement was made about leagues. There were 4 leagues: ACC, Metro, Big Ten, and the NBA. Each was for different age groups. ACC was for 9 to 12, Metro for 13 to 14, Big Ten for 15 to 16, and NBA for 17 to 18. At NBA level, people practically can dunk on regular 10-foot/3-meter nets. Anyhow, the week is set up with playoffs on the last two days of the camp and seven regular-season games to determine the team’s seed.

        The ACC had four teams of nine or ten, which were UNC, UVA, Duke, and GA-Tech. The draft was basically four coaches picking their players in turns, and each one studied us to play for their selection. The GA-Tech coach got me randomly since the coaches can only select three picks. Looking at my team, I saw ones at 12 years old and nine years old, tall and small, and no middle. Was this good or bad? I had no clue. All I knew was that this team was fast. I saw a ton of runners, and so did the coach, which was why all his picks were fast people.

        This camp also invited international people, which sounded so cool. Socially, it could show our life to foreigners. But seriously, is it really worth it to fly across the oceans for this camp? There were people from China, Turkey, and the UK, just to name a few. Not to mention 27 states. There were a bunch of kids from NYC, which got me questioning why they didn’t go to the Knicks’ camp. Maybe it’s just the fact that they’re a fan of the 76ers.

        This is a beginning to an epic week. This will up my basketball skill a ton and is going to be fun. Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to it.

【紅霞譯文】

        直到現在籃球才變得好玩起來，大家只求開心快活，不管勝負輸贏。可是，一旦置身於這麼一個夏令營，人人爭強好勝，恨不能拿出吃奶的力氣比試高低，玩中取樂反倒成了難題。

        費城七六人隊寄宿營可謂地地道道純粹以籃球為中心的夏令營，兩位營員同住一個宿舍，每天從早上八點鐘開始活動，晚上九點四十五分才收工歇息。

        第一天全部用來了解活動安排熟悉環境，“七六人隊”借用福吉谷軍事學校學生宿舍樓及其活動場所，偌大的校園設置了十二個籃球場地，其中四個為室內籃球館；同時還提供大小兩個食堂，小食堂跟休息室差不多，裡面不乏電視和視頻遊戲之類的娛樂器材，同伴們能花錢買些自己喜歡吃的零食打打牙祭；另有游泳池和玩彩彈的地方，不過我對後面兩項遊藝都不感冒，相反卻好奇比賽如何進行，稍後才被告知聯隊組成。這次一共分為四支隊伍：大西洋沿岸聯盟、大都會聯盟、十大聯盟和美籃協會，各隊按年齡分組，大西洋沿岸聯盟隊九到十二歲，大都會聯盟隊為十三到十四歲，十大聯盟隊為十五到十六歲，美籃協會隊為十七到十八歲，而參加美籃協會的營員真能在標準10英尺／3米高籃網下扣籃。總而言之，本周最後兩天將根據七場常規賽的名次決定哪個隊參加決賽。

        大西洋沿岸聯盟隊下設四支分隊，每隊九到十位球員，即北卡大學、弗吉尼亞大學、杜克大學和喬治亞理工學院，隊員基本上由四名教練根據場上表現輪流選拔而來，因為每位教練只有三次挑選機會，所以“喬治亞理工學院”教練隨機看中了我。我所在的球隊都是十二歲和九歲的孩子，身材要麼高要麼矮，兩極分化極其嚴重，是好是壞？我無從得知。不過有一點十分明顯，隊裡許多人速度奇快，甚至包括教練，這大概就是他選人的標準。

        費城七六人隊寄宿營同時收羅了世界多國營員，乍聽起來實在不錯，從社會角度來看，這樣有助於外來朋友了解本地同伴的生活。但仔細想一想，人們值得遠渡重洋專門為這個夏令營飛到賓州嗎？中國人、土耳其人、英國人等匯聚於此，且不說還有美國其它廿七個州的參加者，更有甚者，他們中間有不少來自紐約，我禁不住想問為什麼不去“尼克隊”營，看來他們真是“七六人隊”球迷。

        今天不過是具有史詩般意味的夏令周頭一天，歷經五天錘鍊之後，想必本人的籃球技藝定將突飛猛進，球壇樂趣也會應運而生。無論談及哪一方面，我都十分期待。