*Seattle Seahawks star Michael Bennett has spoken against the prices the Warriors were charging to host a sold-out Steph Curry youth basketball camp in Oahu. Bennett, who lives in Oahu, Hawaii, during the NFL offseason, talked to KHON about how Golden State’s camp prices angered him.
“I see a lot of different athletes come through Hawaii whether it’s Steph Curry or whoever it is,” Bennett said. “They all come here and it makes me mad, because I live in this community and I understand this community — that there’s so many kids who can’t afford to pay such a high amount of money.”
Bennett is right, because according to 2015 Census figures, 30 percent of Oahu’s population lives below the poverty line. The island also boasts some of the state’s richest families, so it’s likely that participants of Curry’s four-day, three-night camp, were likely out-of-towners or the progeny of some of Oahu’s wealthier residents.
Huff Post notes that at Curry’s camp, “overnight campers (staying in BYU-Hawaii dorms) were charged $2,250 and extended day campers were charged $2,000. Airfare was not included in the price, but the Warriors’ listing for the camp promised plenty of Steph Curry for their 90 or so privileged campers.”
“In my mind it’s like, how much money do you need before you start giving back for free? And I think a lot of athletes should start focusing on that,” Bennett continued.
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Bennett believes millionaire professional athletes have a duty to help all kids ― rich or poor ― achieve their own athletic dreams. He says professional athletes looking to host a sports camp in Hawaii should simply: Give back.
“If you do have a camp and you charge money for it, you need to make sure that money that you take from this community, you give back to the kids that are paying for the camp. These are the kids that live here,” he said.
Michael’s “Bennett Foundation” hosted a football camp for local kids over the weekend that was totally free.
“That comes from my mom and dad growing up in the community and always giving back,” Bennett, who is from Houston, but whose wife, Pele, is from Hawaii, told Honolulu’s Khon 2 News. “My dad was a part of the school board, my mom worked in the district for 20 years, and I just always wanted to give back and always make it free. Because growing up, I know I wasn’t able to afford the things like going to certain camps or doing certain things.”
On Saturday, Bennett hosted his fourth annual camp at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, with more than 700 kids, age 7 through 18.
Meanwhile, watch the reaction of kids when they get surprise visit from Steph:
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