Bilingual basketball camp makes athletics accessible by removing language barriers

Kids showed up at 9 a.m. and were greeted with a camp shirt, basketball, school supplies and a haircut. Ivan of the Last Hope Barbershop in Hood River made sure any kid who wanted a haircut received one free of charge.

The campers were put through dribbling, shooting, defense, and other drills — most of which were translated into Spanish.

“It means a lot to help out, especially coming from a Spanish-speaking community and knowing what it means to the young kids,” said Salinas who is from Zillah, Wash.

Kindergartners through third graders graced the outdoor courts from 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. followed by fourth through sixth graders from noon to 2:30 p.m., and high school athletes were welcome, as well. But most importantly, Thompson wanted to make everyone feel comfortable attending the camp, even if English isn’t their first language.

“Demographically, oftentimes, youth sports are monolingual,” said Thompson. “And so, kids don’t participate at a rate they should because of environment. So, we wanted to create a basketball youth environment that’s more inclusive. And that’s kind of where it all started.”

Thompson has seen it all as a basketball coach. He began as a middle school coach at Sandstone Middle School in Hermiston. He went to Oregon State University and served as a video producer for the men’s basketball team, but when head Coach Craig Robinson was fired, Thompson returned home to Eastern Oregon as the basketball coach at 2A Irrigon High School. In his first year, he led the Knights to a state championship, making the 23-year-old the youngest high school basketball coach in Oregon to ever win a state title.

After a brief reunion with OSU as a graduate assistant, Thompson moved on to a player development position with the Milwaukee Bucks G-League team. In 2020 the National Basketball Association expanded its amateur teams with a new organization in Mexico City.

“You go from an established team that is competing for championships to a brand-new team,” said Thompson. “Latin America is the new frontier of basketball.”

Since Bilingual Básquetbol’s inception two years ago, Thompson and counselors have helped hundreds of young athletes across Oregon who may have not had a chance to play basketball because of language barriers.

For a Spanish version of this story, as well as more photos, visit columbiagorgenews.com.