Campbell selected for All-American Games
Eighth grader attended NCAA Women’s Final Four
Alli Campbell and teammate Halee Smith posing during a photo shoot at the All-American Games.
This past summer, Alli Campbell, an eighth grader from Bellwood-Antis Middle School, and her AAU team, the Central PA Dynamite, were playing at the Basketball Nationals in Cincinnati, Ohio. A scout was present to watch all of the teams play, and Campbell’s team did very well. After one of the games, the scout interviewed Campbell and Halee Smith, Campbell’s teammate, and told them he nominated both of them for the All-American games that were being held in Indianapolis, Indiana in April 2016.
Fast forward to the end of the summer when the event organizer emailed the girls and and told them that they were officially invited to play in the Elite Girls Basketball National Middle School All-American Games on Sunday, April 3 as part of the NCAA Women’s Final Four.
Only 48 eighth grade girls throughout the country were chosen to play in this event. Four of those eighth grade girls were from Pennsylvania and two happened to be from Central Pennsylvania. The players selected were divided into four teams with 12 girls on each team.
When asked about her experience in Indiana, Campbell said, “When I got picked to go, I was extremely excited and knew that all of the hard work was paying off.”
I was able to compete against some of the best 8th grade girls in the nation.
— Alli Campbell
On playing with Smith, her friend and teammate, Campbell remarked, “When I found out that Halee and I were going to be able to go together, I was even more excited. I know that Halee puts a lot of work in, and that she couldn’t wait for the experience either. We knew that these games were going to be very competitive, and girls from all over the country are invited to go.”
While in Indianapolis for the weekend, Campbell had the opportunity to watch Syracuse and Washington practice and met a few of the players during an autograph session. Following the All-American game, which was held at Ben Davis High School, Campbell and her teammates got to watch the Final Four games in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
“This was a great experience! I was able to compete against some of the best 8th grade girls in the nation and after watching the Final Four teams play and practice, I am definitely motivated”, Campbell said.
It seems as though Alli Campbell’s basketball career is right on track to be playing in an NCAA Final Four game herself some day!
