The MVP Sports Camp for Girls Basketball has a family feel. Girls have learned passing, dribbling and shooting for 22 years under the direction of Tom Kriz and Mike Smeriglio, and links between past and present abound.
Eileen Ornousky graduated from Trinity Catholic, where the camp takes place, in June. She played for the Crusaders under Kriz, and now coaches for him. She's attended the camp since third grade. Her aunt, Jeanne DeRosa, taught at MVP and also played under Kriz when he coached girls basketball at Central Catholic in Norwalk.
"That's the best when we can get kids who were in the camp to come back and coach,'' Smeriglio said. "They know what goes on here and they know what we want. They know what it feels like, and they're very good teachers."
"I came here last year and really like it,'' said Sydney Bardsley, 11. "I like all the coaches, but I really like Eileen a lot."
The current session includes girls in grades 5 through 11. Last week's group was for grades 3 through 9. Kriz said many girls come from Stamford, but also from Greenwich, Norwalk and other nearby towns. "We'll give them what they'll get at a name camp," said Kriz. "They know each other, and it's a family atmosphere."
Ornousky's story is one that comes full circle, and there are others. Watching Jada Boggs dribble, Smeriglio remembered her mother, Stacey, whom he coached Central Catholic. "That,'' Smeriglio said, "is kind of scary."
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