Jamaco Camps - Embracing the love of the game

Jamaco girls’ basketball camps in Kenosha, Beloit, Fort Wayne, and the Quad Cities are all about embracing the love of the game. Our teaching methods are rooted in Doug Bruno’s years of experience and expertise as a coach of young women.

Doug Bruno has coached the DePaul Blue Demons women’s team for 22 years, leading them to 11 post-season berths in the last 13 seasons. He also serves as consultant to the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. Prior to that, Bruno coached the Chicago Hustle of the Women's Professional League to a Division Championship in the 1979-80 season. Coach Bruno is one of the nation's only coaches to have successfully coached both men and women on the collegiate level, and he’s won a staggering number of accolades for his coaching. Coach Bruno also played college basketball under Hall of Fame Coach Ray Meyer.

Coach Bruno loves to teach. Over 30 years ago he began holding basketball camps in the Chicagoland area for girls and young women, focusing on the love and skill of the game. His camps have taught a generation of girls how to play better, and how to push themselves towards success in the game and in life.

Jana Balis, a former Bruno camper, founded Jamaco Camps. As a player, she was a high school all-american honorable mention and played collegiate basketball at DePauw University. Coach Balis was a former DePaul assistant coach, and she also helped lead Fenwick High School to the Illinois State Championship in 2001. With Jamaco Camps, Coach Balis is expanding Coach Bruno’s winning formula beyond Chicago, showing young girls throughout the Midwest how they can be stronger and more successful players. Currently she is on the Board of Directors of The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and a member of the Cambridge Who's Who. Coach Balis holds a Master's degree in Education Leadership from DePaul University.