Bert Hammel, men's basketball coach at Merrimack College, has been named recipient of the Service Beyond Sports Award presented by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, sports management program.

Hammel received the award for founding and coordinating the Academic Basketball Awareness (ABA) Camp Program for children in the Boys Club in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The program is in its 18th year.

The Service Beyond Sports Award is presented annually to a manager or administrator from a Massachusetts-based sports organization who has created or developed a successful sports-oriented program that achieves broader societal goals and creates meaningful experiences beyond the realm of sports.

Hammel's program, held at Merrimack College each summer, teaches boys ages 10-17 how to succeed in life and on the court. The boys spend the mornings at camp in the classroom taking classes on topics such as conflict resolution, decision making, drug and alcohol education, and goal setting.

The campers also are introduced to the game of life via their interaction with guest speakers, the camp's code of conduct and strict rules governing behavior at camp.

Campers' evenings are spent on the basketball court, playing games and participating in drills. They also take the time to write daily reflections in their camp journals.

For the last 18 years, 150 boys from Lawrence, Massachusetts, have earned their way into the ABA Camp each year with an application process that includes letters of recommendation from their teachers and school principals, along with a copy of their school report card. Even while at camp, the boys are required to study each day.

"If campers don't do their homework, they don't play ball that day," Hammel said.

ABA Camp graduates have gone on to universities, including Boston University, Boston College and Bowdoin College, and some are graduates of medical school and law school. An impressive feat, Hammel said, considering those boys come from a city blemished by drug use, high crime, and both a high-school dropout rate and teen-pregnancy rate that are among the state's highest.