In his element

he kid with the gray shirt, shouting out instructions. He's one.

The kid with the blue shirt, running up and down the middle court with the smallest aged players. He's another one.

And the kid demonstrating layups to more youngsters at the court on the far end. He's part of this special team as well.

Watching this unfold from the sidelines, Gene Sloane points to them all and like a proud papa states they are former participants in his Bull Run Basketball Camp. In fact, nine of the 10 counselors here this week at the Linton Hall School are alumni, including Sloane's two sons, Jay and Tracy.

Sloane isn't coaching right at the moment and at age 76 doesn't have the flexibility he once did to crouch down low and show off things like a proper defensive stance, but he's in tune with everything that's going on around him, from the boys and girls moving from station to station at the outside courts to the drills being demonstrated inside the gym.

Nothing escapes his attention, but then he's done this so many times, it comes naturally anymore for a guy who has spent 40 years providing a camp that gives kids a chance to learn the game of basketball and yet so much more.

It's a family affair out here, where attendance usually reaches capacity of 150 campers and where it's understood that you give back to those who have given to you.

Sloane has a rich basketball history, from taking a Lexington High School team to the state semifinals in the 1960s, to leading Stonewall Jackson to its first district title and a state tournament berth in his first season at the Raider helm in 1970, to helping long-time friend and Manassas native Stu Vetter build Flint Hill into a national prep powerhouse.

But what he does out here at Linton Hall two weeks out of the summer is his greatest basketball achievement. It's not measured in wins or losses or how many banners hang on the wall.

It's measured by respect and loyalty shown to a guy who always puts kids first without trying to cheat them with overinflated costs or a half-hearted attempt to teach them the finer points of basketball.

"He loves the game and everything to do with it," Billy Fields said.

Fields, a former standout at Osbourn Park who went on to star at Providence College, can attest to Sloane's commitment. Fields, the Yellow Jackets' all-time leading scorer with 1,846 points, has been a regular at Sloane's camp since he first played for Sloane in AAU.

"The first taste of real coaching was with coach Sloane," Fields said. "He could be very strict, but he cared about the game and I respected him a lot because of that."

Another regular is Chris Smith. Smith first started going to the camp at age nine after being introduced to it through Vetter, who is Smith's uncle. Every year after that, Smith competed in the camp until this year when he was old enough at age 18 to be able to now coach.

"There is a lot of freedom," said Smith, who graduated from Battlefield in June. "You do the drills and give attention to that, but whatever you need, there's plenty of time for other things."

Trust is a big part of what brings kids back each year. And that's important to Sloane, who really has no vested interest in this other than just tapping into his love for the game.

After retiring from coaching in the 1980s after 27 years, Sloane moved out of the area to Daytona Beach, Florida. Saying it was too hot there, he and his wife Evelyn moved up to Manning, South Carolina, where they have been ever since.

But they stay connected with their roots. Beyond basketball, there are other draws to coming back to the area. Evelyn has family here and all four of their children live in the Washington D.C. area, including two in Prince William County.

But basketball, which first ignited a passion in him while playing in the streets of his native New York City, continues to be a driving force.

Sloane is a natural storyteller and can spin yarn after yarn about coaches and players he's met and places he's been over the years, a list that includes time spent with NBA Hall of Famer Jerry West, former Virginia head men's basketball coach Terry Holland and former Maryland star and NBA No. 1 overall pick John Lucas.

It's those experiences that help define him and it's why he'd rather see the kids learning something and running around outside than perfecting the art of texting.

"I realize not all kids are going to play varsity basketball, but I want them to have an appreciation for the game," Sloane said. "They spend too much time now doing things with their thumbs and fingers."

After his first year at Stonewall, he started the Bull Run Basketball Camp in 1970 as a way to help his kids work out as a team without violating any state scholastic rules that prohibited teams from holding practices in the offseason.

At Lexington, he had done this with much success so after talking to Osbourn head coach Bob Brinkley, the two joined forces and brought in 30 of their players who paid $35 each to spend a week together at the Osbourn gym for the sake of getting a competitive edge.

Brinkley came up with the name for the camp in honor of the nearby battlefield. In fact, the camp's first logo was of a cannon with basketballs coming out of it.

Two years later, Brinkley moved out the area and Sloane partnered with other coaches to keep the camp going. Eventually, the camp broadened out to include other boys and girls and moved from different places that were affordable.

He eventually settled on Linton Hall in 1985 in large part because of his friendship with a former basketball coach there, Charlie Laniak, who also works the camp.

Tucked deep behind a row of trees off Linton Hall Road in the western part of the county, the school has seen plenty of growth around it from the proliferation of houses to the main road expanding from two lanes to four.

But the school provides a nice refuge from the hustle and bustle around it as kids learn things like proper stances and shooting forms during their sessions from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

This year, there was actually a downturn in attendance because the first week was scheduled right after July 4th. Only about 100 showed up.

This week, though, things have been back to normal with numbers just two shy of capacity among the three divisions that start from age 7 and go into the high school ranks.

With the economy as tight as it is, Sloane was concerned he might not have as many participants, which usually draws from the Bristow/Gainesville area. He charges $125 per camper, but does his best to keep his costs down.

His biggest expense is insurance, but he must also pay his counselors as well as Linton Hall.

Sloane is in the second year of a three-year agreement with Linton Hall to hold his camp there and hopes to be able to keep it there once the contract is up for renewal.

He told Fields the other day that if Fields wanted to take over at some point, he would love to pass it on to him. Fields, who runs his own camp out at the Freedom Center, said he would jump at the chance to take over for Sloane. But knowing Sloane like he does, Fields understands that there is no definite timetable yet in the works.

"Who knows when that will happen?" Fields joked.

For the sake of his pupils, let's hope not anytime soon.

David Fawcett is the sports editor of the News & Messenger. Reach him at

703-878-8052 or at

dfawcett@insidenova.com.