About Us

About Pacesetter Sports

Pacesetter Director Jeff McCarron was a member of Minnesota’s final one-class state high school champion at Sherburn in 1970 and the Minnesota Gopher Big Ten Champions in 1972. 

McCarron received his early camp mentoring from John Thomas, his college coach at Augustana and an ex-Boston Celtic, through four years of teaching and directing summer basketball camps from 1976-1979.

The current Pacesetter “Fundamentals for Champions” basketball camp program is a compilation of teachings and experiences from championship basketball teams and coaches at all three levels: high school (MN State Champions), college (Big Ten Champions), and professional (NBA Champions) levels.

Since 1980 Pacesetter has sought top high school and college coaches to direct summer camps for both volleyball and basketball, and hundreds of the Midwest’s finest coaches have stepped forward to share their knowledge with young athletes. 

Pacesetter Sports will continue to seek ways to provide basketball and volleyball programs to benefit young athletes, parents, coaches and fans.

The Great Five-State Experience

Video Credit: Jason Schiller (Grand Forks 6th Grade Girls)

Office Hours

Monday8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Tuesday8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Wednesday8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Thursday8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Friday8:00 am - 4:30 pm
SaturdayClosed
SundayClosed

Meet The Team

JEFF MCCARRON
OWNER/DIRECTOR
EXECUTIVE MANAGER
CREATIVE AND TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
NEWS EDITOR AND PHOTOGRAPHER
The History of Pacesetter

Our Journey

1980
Pacesetter Sports began in 1980 by offering eight high-quality, low-cost basketball camps to 400 campers by sending top coaches directly to the host schools.
1986
Pacesetter Volleyball Camps were added in 1986 and soon Pacesetter was offering over 100 area camps to over 5,000 young people each summer.
1989
Pacesetter also began hosting regional summer basketball tournaments for varsity players and now hosts two major varsity basketball tournaments, the Minnesota Invitational Tournament and Minnesota's most prestigious summer tournament, The Sweet Sixteen.
1993
The Pacesetter Minnesota Youth State Basketball Tournament for grades 5-9 was added in 1993 and annually fields over 600 teams.
1994
Pacesetter Sports added Minnesota Basketball News as a monthly newsmagazine for Minnesota’s coaches, players and fans in 1994.
2008
Pacesetter added residential intensive training basketball camps in 2008 by offering 3-day, 26-hour Pacesetter Shooting Camps, Pacesetter Championship Basketball Camps, and “Best of Pacesetter” Basketball Camps.
2010
In 2010 Pacesetter added youth basketball state championships for grades 5-9 in Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota with the top two teams from each state invited to play in the Great Four-State Championships at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
2011
Minnesota Basketball News was changed to a weekly newsmagazine.
2015
Pacesetter added regional playoffs: EAST-WEST in North Dakota and South Dakota and NORTH-SOUTH in Iowa with the playoff system adding 4th grade teams. Pacesetter also added monthly newsmagazines for North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa.
2017
Pacesetter added Nebraska to the area of volleyball camps by offering the first Pacesetter camp in Nebraska in the summer of 2017.
2018
Pacesetter invited Wisconsin youth basketball teams in grades 4-9 to enter the Pacesetter Playoffs leading to the Pacesetter Great Five-State Championships at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
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PACESETTER CONCLUDES 36TH YEAR, HONORING THREE FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Pacesetter Honors Mike Turnbull, Tracey Haines, and Pat Dewey for Lifetime Achievement

The award plaques read:
MICHAEL TURNBULL

Pacesetter recognizes Mike Turnbull for his lifetime dedication to youth in sports by serving his schools’ athletic departments as a basketball, volleyball and baseball coach for 35 years and directing nearly 200 Pacesetter basketball and volleyball camps since the late 1980’s. His good humor and joy in working with players of all ages and both genders has made him one of the top 3-sport coaches in Minnesota sports. Thank you, Mike.

TRACEY (SIEBEN) HAINES

Pacesetter recognizes Tracey Haines for 25 years of excellence as office manager of Pacesetter Sports, where she has helped provide hundreds of thousands of young people with opportunities to compete and learn. She has become the backbone and heartbeat of Pacesetter. Pacesetter is proud and fortunate she became one of the family. Thank you, Tracey.

JOHN PATRICK “DEW” DEWEY

Pacesetter recognizes Pat Dewey for his lifetime dedication to youth in sports by serving his school’s athletic department for 46 years and directing over 200 Pacesetter basketball camps and over 100 tournaments since 1982. He touches young lives with compassion and good humor. There may not be a nicer human being on this planet. Thank you, Dew. 

Please send your own words of congratulations to michaelturnbull@hibbing.edu, tracey@pacesetternet.com, and jpdewey67@gmail.com