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Medical Writer Joins Shaka Smart Basketball Camp Team

February 29, 2012

Otesa Miles spends most of her days poring over 30-page medical studies, interviewing doctors about new treatments and writing about surgeries and implants. As the new communications director for Shaka Smart Basketball Camps she will now write about her favorite sport.

“I’ve kept the score, was team statistician in high school and did an internship with the Fila Summer Pro League in California,” said Miles, a full-time freelance medical and business writer whose work can be seen at www.otesa.com.

“Working with Shaka Smart Basketball Camps is a great way for me to rejuvenate that basketball connection. I’m committed to ensuring parents get all of the information they need about this great program,” said Miles, who is also the mother of three boys and is therefore pretty well-versed about the Richmond summer camp scene.

Even when she was a business reporter at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Miles managed to sneak basketball stories into her coverage. “I wrote about NBA legends John Havlicek and Bob Cousey coming to Richmond to shoot a commercial and about the marketing challenges of Richmond’s former women’s professional basketball team,” said Miles, who also reported live on Richmond’s WTVR channel 6 previewing the top stories on the next day’s newspaper.

Later, Miles worked in Washington and covered the Food and Drug Administration for Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal. “During the week, I sat in eight-hour FDA meetings on new medical devices and on the weekends I was running up and down the basketball court refereeing boys and girls basketball games. Some Saturdays, I’d referee four or five games,” she said.

Working with Shaka Smart Basketball Camps, Miles writes the camp’s press releases, blog posts and website content.

“Teaching kids a positive way to be competitive and ensuring they understand the fundamentals of the game—while still having fun and making friends—is very rewarding,” she said. “I’m looking forward to a very successful camp year.”