As the All Navy Men's Basketball Team competes in the 2017 Armed Forces Basketball Championship, they take with them special memories of Texas and Naval Air Station (NAS) Kingsville.

The team spent much of October training at NAS Kingsville, both because of its proximity to San Antonio, where the tournament is being held, and because the coaches had a personal connection.

Coach Micah Bonner, a U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant commander, and Assistant Coach Rodnic Ward, a retired Navy master-at-arms, have been coaching the team since 2012, the last time the tournament was held in San Antonio.

The Navy prefers to hold the training camp within a reasonable distance of the tournament location, Bonner said.

In 2012, the camp was held at NAS Corpus Christi, where the coaches met the base fitness director, Gail Marsh. She later became fitness director at NAS Kingsville.

"Kingsville ended up being a great location, especially with Miss Gail Marsh here," Bonner said. "She's very familiar with the program, a gracious host, and provides the guys with excellent service. So it was an easy no-brainer to come to Kingsville."

Marsh said she jumped at the chance to support the team again.

"They represent the Navy; the best part of the Navy. They are ambassadors of character and good sportsmanship," she said.

Players, selected from all over the Navy and the Coast Guard, arrived in Kingsville, Oct. 10, and had until Oct. 31 to become a team. The tournament began on Nov. 1.

"We play two games against each of the services, Army, Air Force and Marines, and the top two records play for the gold medal," Bonner said.

The top five players from the tournament plus seven more selected by coaches and sports directors become the team that represents the United States in the Conseil International du Sport Militare (Military World Championships) in Europe, Nov. 28-Dec. 3.

"We typically have three weeks to prepare however many men you invited in - this year it was 18 young men invited into camp - to get down to 12 players to participate in the Armed Forces Championship in November," Bonner said.

The final team includes a few returning players, several who played in college (including one who played for the Naval Academy), a couple with international playing experience, and one who recently joined the Navy after playing in high school.

Ward coached the team initially, beginning the process of turning individuals into a team.

"Basketball is easy. But being able to build that camaraderie and then being able to gel as a team together, that's the hard part," Ward said.

Bonner, who arrived later in the month, said he embraces the challenge.

"You try relate basketball to life and then life to the military. Basketball teaches us camaraderie and teaches us discipline and hard work. Then when you transfer those life lessons over to the military, where taking care of your shipmates, making sure you do your part in order for the mission to succeed, and you relate that back to the basketball and how every person is part of the team," he said. "We try to emphasize thinking about others over yourself and also building relationships to where it's not just about basketball, it's about, 'Who is that person, where are they from, how did they get here?' Investing in people off the court can help on the court. We try emphasize that in a very short time."

Bonner said it helps that both coaches went through it themselves. Ward played on the team from 1998-2006 and Bonner was on the All Navy team from 2005-2007.

"I was the starting point guard and we won the gold medal in 2005. That's the last time the Navy won. I also played three years on the USA Team as well," Bonner said. "I was able to see what worked and what didn't. The teams that became successful became closer off the court as well as on the court. So that's what I try to emphasize."

The team did everything together during their time in Kingsville, including lunches, dinners and other team-building events.

The team held a scrimmage with the Texas A&M University Kingsville men's basketball team. The also held a skills workshop with middle school students and talked to and played with the Kingsville Independent School District High School team.

At the high school, Bonner talked about how he was ready to try out for a college team but flunked out, then made the team at another college and found himself academically ineligible and forced to sit on the bench.

"Coach made me sit on the bench and explain to the girls why I wasn't allowed to play," he said. "I decided to put the same effort I put in on the court and applying it to the classroom, because I didn't want to tell any more girls that I wasn't qualified."

As the team prepared to head for San Antonio, Bonner said he was pleased with their progress, and pleased with their time in Kingsville.

"We've had first-rate customer service. It made the whole experience wonderful," he said. "We're grateful to the City of Kingsville. We're grateful to our gracious hosts at NAS Kingsville for hosting the All Navy Team and the local team at Texas A&M University Kingsville for playing us. I think it prepared us very well for what we'll face in San Antonio."

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2017 All Navy Basketball Team

Coach: Lt. Cmdr. Micah Bonner, US Coast Guard
Assistant Coach: Rodnic Ward, retired Navy master-at-arms
Aviation Maintenance Adminstrationman Airman Nehemia Braddy, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72)
Airman Larry Okhomina, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72)
Machinist's Mate (Nuclear) 1st Class Joshua Arnold, Navy Recruiting
Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Brady Nissen, Naval Health Clinic Quantico
Lt. Mark Veazey, Defense Intelligence Agency Pearl Harbor
Logistics Specialist Seaman William Sadekarthur, Naval Air Station Oceana
Operations Specialist 3rd Class Derick Sumpter, US Coast Guard Sector Maryland
Gas Turbine System Technician (Electrical) 3rd Class Troy Snyder, Yokosuka, Japan
Aviation Electronics Technician Airman Steve Seider, Fleet Readiness Center Southeast Jacksonville
Operations Specialist 3rd Class Marquel DeLancey, U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command Center
Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Akeem Anderson, Naval Postgraduate Dental School Bethesda
Aviation Machinist's Mate Airman Deonte Jones, USS Essex (LHD 2)

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Naval Air Station Kingsville, visit http://www.navy.mil/.