Nike Basketball Camp at Alexandria City High School

Camp Coaches

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  Sonia Chase

  Director

  Sonia Chase, former WNBA player, is the President and CEO of Chase Your Dreams, Inc. whose mission is to help players develop elite basketball skills and prepare for next level opportunities. Chase oversees general camp operations for the Nike Basketball Camps alongside her highly qualified staff of high school, collegiate and professional coaches.

  View Sonia's Bio
  

  Sonia Chase

  Director

  Ms. Chase began playing basketball at the age of seven in an all boy's league. Eventually, she started to play for a local neighborhood basketball organization called "The Liberty Road Girl's Basketball Team." She continued to play basketball in numerous leagues throughout the year including Baltimore Neighborhood Basketball League (BNBL) and Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). While growing up, she attended many basketball camps such as Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), Blue Star, NIKE, Blue Chip and Chris Weller's University of Maryland Women's Basketball Camp.

  Ms. Chase attended McDonogh School, in Owings Mills, Maryland and became a four-year Varsity starter and two-time captain in high school. She was the first female athlete in school history to score over 3,000 points and also set records that currently still stand today for scoring, assists, rebounds and steals. As a senior in high school, Ms. Chase was selected as a Rollins-Leuktemeyer Scholar, honoring her as an all-around outstanding student-athlete.

  In 1994, Ms. Chase was awarded a four-year athletic scholarship to play for the University of Maryland at College Park. She graduated in December 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature and earned a certificate of academic honor in Women's Studies and Health. On April 29, 1998, she was drafted to the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) where she ventured to Charlotte, North Carolina to play for the "Charlotte Sting.” In the WNBA off-seasons, Ms. Chase travelled to Europe to play professional basketball in over 10 different countries within the Federation International Basketball Association (also referred to as "FIBA") including Greece, Turkey, and China. The personal and professional knowledge, experience, and contacts accumulated during her tenure as a world-renowned professional athlete serves as a positive support network for Chase Your Dreams Incorporated.

  Following her professional basketball career, Ms. Chase realized the vital need to make a positive difference in society utilizing her natural talents and decided to embark upon the entrepreneurial side of life. In 2009, Ms. Chase founded Chase Your Dreams Academy, a non-profit organization, whose mission is to promote the advancement of youth in education, sports, health, fitness and nutrition. Ms. Chase has developed scholastic and success management programs that support all types of student-athletes in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. She was selected as Who’s Who in Black Washington, DC as an “Emerging Leader Women Under 40!” in 2010. In addition, since her retirement from professional sports, Ms. Chase has gained vast experience in corporate America working as a national sales manager in the pharmaceutical industry and has also been a basketball consultant to several companies and universities across the United States. She is a critical thinker and relationship-oriented negotiator who can apply extensive knowledge of industry regulations to rapid revenue and profit growth opportunities.

  Through Chase Your Dreams Incorporated, Ms. Chase markets and sells "Chase Your Dreams: BFIT" at company-wide events. This basketball training handbook is a complete system of how Ms. Chase maintained superior mental and physical conditioning throughout her career as a professional basketball player. She recommends using her handbook as a stepping stone to get that much closer to achieving and chasing personal goals within the sport of basketball. Most recently, Ms. Chase received her certification as a FIBA Coach to coach men’s and women’s professional basketball internationally.

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  Raphael McNeill

  Co-Director

  Coach McNeill has been coaching basketball at the AAU, high school, and college level for 15 years. He recently spent three seasons as an Assistant Coach with the Livingstone College Blue Bears.

  View Raphael's Bio
  

  Raphael McNeill

  Co-Director

  Prior to his tenure at Livingstone College, Coach McNeill was an assistant at Virginia Union University, Chesapeake College, Suitland HS (Suitland, MD), C.H. Flowers HS (Springdale, MD), Largo HS (Largo, MD), and WeR1 AAU team. He has also trained and mentored NBA players such as NBA Champion Quinn Cook and Orlando Magic's Markelle Fultz. Coach McNeill has been a co-director at Sonia Chase's NIKE/U.S. Sports basketball camps for the last 10 years.

  Coach McNeill attended Old Dominion University and later Fayetteville State University where he earned his Bachelor's of Science degree in Computer Science in 2001. Although he was born and raised in North Carolina, he is considered a local basketball legend in the DMV (DC, MD, VA) area and continues to be an advocate for youth boys and girls in the community.