Hooping It Up at Coop’s Co-Ed Basketball Camp

Her friends thought she was kidding, but Celeste Cofield was serious when she told them she was going to sign up for Michael Cooper’s first co-ed basketball camp for adults last weekend.

Cofield was the first woman to call when she heard that Laker guard Cooper was offering a basketball camp for men and women, with proceeds to go to the building fund of the Center for Early Education in West Hollywood, where his two children attend school.

“No women had signed up when I called, so I thought I might be the only one, but I didn’t care,” said the 5-foot, 4-inch Cofield as she waited at the sidelines of the Brentwood School gym for her turn to practice foul shooting. The players began the morning with exercises before beginning their drills.

“I was going to go anyway. I played basketball in high school and then at Boston College as a guard. And I play with a group at Roxbury Park in Beverly Hills. There aren’t any other basketball camps for people over 21, and since I’m past 30, I wanted to try it.”

Cofield, a single parent who lives in Los Angeles and works as a production coordinator for children’s television programs, had bet a couple of her male friends that she would be at Coop Camp on Saturday at 9 a.m. for the opening of the two-day session, which cost $500 per person.

“Now they’re going to end up picking up part of the tab for this,” she chortled about her doubting friends.

Of the 36 participants at Coop Camp, the only other female to sign up was Tory Mudd, a graying 41-year-old film producer, whose business partner gave her a camp enrollment as a birthday present.

“I played in high school, but I missed my chance to play in college, and I’ve really regretted it ever since,” said Mudd, who lives in Malibu and spends her recreational time surfing.

“Film making is pretty sedentary work, so this is good for me,” Mudd said, explaining that she and her co-producer and director, Maria Florio, had spent five years working on their documentary film, “Broken Arrow,” a 1986 Oscar winner about relocating the Navajo from their reservation.

“I’m really enjoying this and would like to find a women’s team for those over 25 or over 35,” she said.

“I saved up since I read about this camp in the paper,” said Jeff Jensen, 24, manager of a bakery in Tijuana, who plays in a men’s basketball league in Chula Vista.

“My wife, Yvonne, came up here with me and we’re staying at a hotel,” he said. “Camp costs a lot, but it’s for a good cause. It’s better to spend money here than in Las Vegas.”

Campers, who ranged in age from 22 to 47, spent the morning working out in six groups, rotating among Cooper, his Laker teammate Kurt Rambis and three other coaches.

They concentrated on defensive skills with Cooper and Rambis, then worked on dribbling, foul shooting, layups, hook and jump shots.

“It’s like basketball practice 20 years later,” said Dr. Dave Croughan, 40, a Redlands pediatrician, who had decided to participate after a call from Dr. Peter Waldstein, his roommate in medical school. Waldstein, also a pediatrician, was on the planning committee for the camp and offers medical treatment to many of the children from the Center for Early Education.

Brentwood resident David Sidell, who manufactures women’s sportswear, was celebrating his 47th birthday at camp.

“This brings back a lot of memories,” he said. “Unfortunately now, the legs don’t want to do what the mind wants them to do.”

“The most frequently asked questions this morning are: ‘What time is it?’ and ‘When is lunch?’ ” said Reveta Bowers, principal of the Center for Early Education, a school for toddlers though sixth-graders. “I think they just want to sit down.”

Bowers, Wanda Cooper (Michael’s wife) and other volunteers--Jan Platt, Bette Feldman, Shelley Alexander, Linda Rambis--handled registration and other details, seeing that water bottles were full and dry towels were available for the perspiring players. Laker trainer Gary Vitti was there to handle any injuries.

Los Angeles lawyer Richard Leher, 43, whose wife had given him Coop Camp for Father’s day, was the first casualty. About 11 o’clock, he pulled a muscle in his left side and had to sit out for a while with an ice pack on it.

“I’ll be back,” he said, and was, to play in the afternoon games.

During lunch break on Saturday--campers had pizza and salad donated by Jacopo’s Pizzeria--Mudd did some leg stretches, admitting that she could feel herself “starting to stiffen up.”

Other campers confessed to having stiff legs, too--and of being winded and tired as well--after the afternoon session of games, played on half court instead of full.

“It’s exhausting, but worth it,” said Raymond Lacson, at 6 feet, 9 inches the tallest player at camp and its only tourist. Lacson, 22, a former collegiate player from the Philippines, is visiting his uncle, a Laker fan in Fullerton, who heard about the camp.

“I’m here trying to get in shape,” he said. “I want to go back and try to get on one of the commercial teams. I can’t wait to tell my friends I met Michael Cooper and Kurt Rambis.”

On Sunday, the group returned at 9 a.m. to play elimination games until the two best teams reached the finals. Laker announcer Chick Hearn was master of ceremonies at a banquet for campers, families and friends at the downtown Sheraton Grande Sunday evening.

“Some of them are pretty good,” praised Cooper, who plans to run the camp again next year. “Most are in better shape than I thought they were going to be. Even though they’re in other professions, they still keep their bodies in shape. The women are doing really well, especially in the effort they give.”

Although Cofield and Mudd played on different teams, both were praised by their male counterparts.

“She’s pretty good. I’m real impressed,” said paving contractor Michael D’Andrea, 34, after playing against Mudd.

“Two guys I played against said I was a dirty player,” Cofield said, laughing. “That’s good.”

One game finished, Ben Frankel, a vice president of Aaron Brothers who has season tickets to Laker games, sat down and quipped: “I’m 35. After this, I might not get to 36. I’m going to hang in there if it kills me.”

Frankel later suffered muscle cramps in his thighs, which were iced down by Vitti. He returned in the last game of the day.

Afterward, he puffed: “I’m dead. “Just send the body to Studio City.”