Devin Hutchinson is part of the next generation of Celtics fans who will more vividly remember the 18th championship the team hopes to win in the future than the 17th banner it hung in 2008.
So when the McDevitt Middle School student arrived at the team’s practice facility Thursday with 34 other young basketball players from the Greater Boston YMCAs of Waltham and West Roxbury, he was just as excited to see new Celtics guard MarShon Brooks as he was to look up at all the flags celebrating the team’s past titles.
“He’s going to help the Celtics out,” Hutchinson said. “He can shoot, and he’s very athletic and fast.”
The 35 young athletes got to go through two hours of fitness training, basketball skills development drills and nutrition advice from Brooks, new Celtics assistant coach Walter McCarty and former Celtics standout Dana Barros.
“It’s really cool,” Hutchinson, who is entering seventh grade, said. “I kind of believe it from them more than if someone else was teaching me.”
Brooks said he hopes the message gets through to some of his newest fans that a healthy and athletic life starts with keeping physically active and staying off the couch.
“It’s very important to help the kids in the community,” the recently acquired shooting guard said. “We just want to try to give them a couple of drills as part of NBA Fit that they can do on a daily basis just to get the cardio in.
“Kids these days like to sit on the computer, do Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. So I want to give them a couple of drills they can do when they are in the house, or on the court.”
Our Lady’s of Waltham student Elizabeth Baptista said her older brother was at Providence College when Brooks was a star player there – once scoring a Big East-record 52 points in a single game – and on Thursday got to meet the third-year NBA pro.
“I think it’s really cool that I get to meet him and play here,” she said. “I think it will make my basketball career better.”
The clinic was part of a collaboration between Sun Life Financial, the Greater Boston YMCAs and the Boston Celtics to encourage physical activity and healthy living through fitness skills, while stressing the importance of health and nutrition, among area youth.
“I think it’s excellent,” said Kevin Washington, YMCA of Greater Boston President, “because many of them are Celtics fans. To get this opportunity from some folks that they know, and have seen on TV, close up emphasizes what we’re talking about being in shape. It’s part of that spirit-mind-body piece. That’s why it’s so important.
“This is history when you come in here and see all the championship banners and tradition of the Celtics. They’re enjoying it as part of their summer experience. How many of them are going to go back and tell their moms and dads where they were today and how much fun it was?”
Scott Souza can be reached at 781-398-8006 or ssouza@wickedlocal.com.