Lynn YMCA hosts Celtics youth basketball clinic

LYNN – Becoming the first YMCA on the North Shore to host a Junior Celtics basketball clinic is one of many opportunities the organization hopes to take advantage of with its recently renovated gym.The Neptune Boulevard YMCA wrapped up the youth basketball clinic on Saturday sponsored by The Boston Celtics team as one of only 15 sites in the Greater Boston area to host the clinic.”The city is often overlooked for something like this,” said Gregg Ellenberg, the associate executive director of the Lynn YMCA.But Ellenberg said the sky is the limit for Lynn after the Boston Celtics and the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation donated $50,000 to renovate the gym, which was completed in October.View a photo galleryOn Saturday afternoon, about 30 elementary school-aged youth made good use of the shiny floors, sparkling baskets and towering posters of Celtics players on the last day of their clinic.They stretched, ran around orange cones, jumped over obstacles and shot free-throws as coaches urged them on, stopwatches and clipboards in hand.”Everyone that sees this is proud for the YMCA, but also proud for the city,” Ellenberg said.He said the YMCA has enjoyed working with the Celtics and the team’s nonprofit arm, which provides the youth with personalized signed posters of players after every clinic practice.”They weren’t here, re-doing the gym, photo op and out,” he said. “They have put so much time and thought into what this program was.”For 10-year-old Joseph Tolentino, who is the clinic team’s captain, that means filming a public-service announcement about the clinic and appearing on court during an upcoming April game halftime show to reveal it.But on Saturday, Tolentino said he’s most excited to just have the opportunity to play basketball.”I like training to be better,” he said.He should have many more chances to play in the Y’s new gym. The Lynn YMCA Youth Basketball league starts April 6th and runs through the summer. There’s also a girls basketball league for middle and high school students that starts Tuesday, and the Y holds regular free basketball clinics.Ellenberg said he’s also working to start up a 30-and-older league. It’s all part of the momentum that comes from a new gym.”We’re just running with it,” he said.Amber Parcher can be reached at [email protected].