Games are also being recorded so the children can watch themselves after they get home.
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
It’s not exactly NBA TV.
You won’t see LeBron James, Joel Embiid or Luka Doncic throwing down dunks or hitting three-pointers.
But perhaps there are some future Lebrons, Joels or Lukas in the making. Call it mini-NBA TV.
Parents wanting to see their children showing off their moves on the basketball court may now watch the games on livestreaming offered by the Ocean City Recreation Department.
Livestreaming of the Recreation Department’s community basketball league for kids in the third to eighth grades is yet another innovative way for parents and grandparents to share in their children and grandchildren’s lives in the COVID age.
Dan Kelchner, director of Ocean City Community Services, called it a “creative solution” for coping with the challenges of the pandemic.
“It’s one of the things where the unique circumstances of COVID allowed the Recreation Department and the community to get together to overcome something that presented itself as a problem,” he said.
The state’s COVID moratorium on large gatherings prevents parents and grandparents from attending the basketball games, which take place every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ocean City Intermediate School.
As an alternative to watching the games in person, the Recreation Department borrowed the video equipment from the Intermediate School’s library to livestream the action.
“We’re getting positive comments from parents,” Recreation Supervisor Kristie Fenton said, adding that grandparents enjoy it, too.
A link is sent by the Recreation Department to the families for the livestreaming. The first games on Jan. 16 were not recorded. However, the department now plans to record the games, allowing the players to watch themselves after they get home, Fenton said.
Fenton characterized it as “phase one” of a broader livestreaming program that will also include the Recreation Department leagues for children’s indoor soccer and lacrosse.
