Not many can say they've been a part of something for 45 years, but David Daye just reached that milestone.
For the last 45 summers, Daye has spent hours working with kids on their shots, dribbling and lay-ups, at the University of New Brunswick's summer basketball camp.
It's been 'nothing but net' for decades for Daye. He's still a basketball coach at Woodstock High School, despite retiring from teaching there 16 years ago.
"They know that i'd take a bullet for them, and as long as they know I care that much, they keep working hard for me and that's all I ask," says Daye.
"I think for young players, it's cool to see that he's still in the gym at his age and it's pretty inspiring, and they still love to listen to him," says Assistant Coach Caroline Healy.
And while coaching has scored him some pretty high reviews, the reviews on Daye's humour are a bit mixed.
"I laugh at his jokes, some people don't, but I think they're funny," says camp participant Ava Dickson.
Jeff Speedy, Head Coach of the UNB Varsity Red's Women's Basketball team, remembers a time when he wasn't too fond of David.
"When he was coaching girls basketball when I was a high school player, I hated him. I thought he was arrogant, I thought he was obnoxious, I thought his teams played that way. But it just goes to show you that you never know a person until you get to know them, and when I started working here 11 years ago, he had been working camps for a billion years by then, and we hit it off immediately," says Speedy.
So when David announced that this would be his last camp, they created an award in his name that will send one player to camp each year, for free.
"It's been a part of my life, I got lucky to find something that I enjoyed doing and people enjoyed listening to me try to help them, so life is good," says Daye.
So if you're looking for some pointers on shooting three-pointers, you can still find 72-year-old David Daye on the court, likely with a joke.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Laura Brown.
