Jack Velcamp: An example of self-improvement
RUMSON, N.J. 聽— Jack Velcamp has been responsible for the growth of the Rumson-Fair Haven men’s basketball team and the talent that has come through the group.
Since the fourth grade, Velcamp has been the team’s manager. Although he is only 4-foot-2, he has managed to be a role model and leader for his teammates. Thanks to his strength and charm, characteristics that the best athletes in the world have in dealing with dwarfism, he has inspired the community.
Head coach Chris Champeau said, “He was my best hire when I came here.” Champeau arrived eight years ago and helped the Rumson Fair-Haven Bulldogs become the most successful program in the Shore Conference during that time.
He saw his hometown high school basketball team play; that’s why he wanted to play with them from that moment on. In February 2018, Jack Velcamp fulfilled his dream when he got to play his first game with the basketball team.
First, Jack introduced himself and the rest of the seniors on the team before the game started. Then, the match began where Velcamp attempted a few shots but couldn’t get them to the basket.
With 3:49 left in the first quarter, the Rumson Fair-Haven senior took a shot and made it to the basket. When the ball went in, all of his teammates came off the bench to congratulate him, crowding around him with joy and excitement. In the end, Rumson won the game 63-50, making it his 12th consecutive victory.
Velcamp said that “Throughout these eight years, I’ve been through so many teams, so many athletes and I’ve learned so much.” “I applied everything I learned in the game tonight,” he added.
“I love coach (Champeau) because he gave me an opportunity to play tonight. My family has been through a lot helping me, my brother (P.J.), especially. He has been helping me train ever since I found out I would start this game. It’s insane, but it’s really special,” he said.
Jack Velcamp and his twin brother, P.J., started as managers for the Bulldogs soccer team. Then, two years later, they started playing basketball.
P.J. Velcamp was a 5-11 receiver who played in the NJSIAA sectional championship. Meanwhile, Jack Velcamp sported a jacket that said “USA” across his chest when he played basketball several years ago at the World Midget Games in Ontario, Canada.
His father, Joe Velcamp, said that he always tried to see things through Jack’s eyes. “When you spend most of your life competing against people that realistically you can’t compete against, and then have the opportunity to play against guys that are all on the same level as you, and then it’s not how tall you are or how short you are, it’s what your talent is, I think that was the big thing.”
His parents have been such a support for Jack. “Basically, Jack said that when he was born the doctors told his mom and everyone it was going to be a miserable life and this and that, and they developed a theme of ‘believe,'” Coach Champeau said. “Every time that he hit a bump in the road, they said ‘believe,’ and he just basically talked about the progression of how he has never given up and what the team means to him. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.” He commented.
Jack Velcamp got into Monmouth University in 2018 and got the job of student-manager for the Division I basketball team. He graduated from Brookdale Community College this year.
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