His gaze slowly slips past the basketball goal to admire the Pyrenees Mountains standing tall and proud in the distance. He inhales the cool, crisp air and focuses his attention back to the goal sitting feet from him. With a practiced eye, he quickly searches for the perfect path for the ball, and shoots.

Juniors Connery Churchill, Dillon Heinaman and Jagger Ochoa traveled to Spain this past summer with their basketball instructor, Ike Anders. The students left for Barcelona June 19 to take part in a basketball camp, Camp L’Arcada, and returned July 2.

“It was an amazing experience getting to go overseas, being that it was my first time,” Churchill said. “It’s a surreal experience being surrounded by the mountains and watching the sunset while you’re playing.”

Anders invited any Lindale basketball player who could attend the trip. Churchill, Heinaman and Ochoa expressed the most desire to go and were able to afford the trip by raising money and hosting fundraisers. The students looked forward to bonding time with their instructor and peers.

“You don’t really get to talk to your coach outside of school or your individual sport,” Heinaman said. “Getting to learn about his past and his experiences with Christ was just amazing.”

The first week of camp involved training and preparing for the second week of activities. The instructors were taught how the camp would run and how to help with specialized projects. The second week worked toward strengthening the skills and minds of the players. The students got to play basketball and learn from a range of different coaches and peers.

“The trip got me closer to the guys I went with and the people there,” Ochoa said. “It was a great experience being with them throughout the trip and I got better at the sport I play.”

An NBA coach and a few college coaches attended the camp as well. There were around 15 kids from America, and the remaining 65 or so were from Spain. Anders and the students were able to learn a lot from their experience with the different people they met and time spent with each other.

“The highlight for me was seeing such young people so excited to pour out their lives into Christ’s work,” Anders said. “It also helped me and the boys because we got to know a part of each other that is hard to do in the hustle and bustle of basketball season.”