Campers Abound

Kids come together from across the region for summer sports camps

The gym is a frenzy of activity, as several three-on-three basketball games are underway at hoops around the court in the Kline Center. It's 95 degrees outside already, and the heat is starting to permeate the Kline, but not one of the Girls Basketball Camp athletes looks tired.

"You'll rarely see our campers with nothing to do," says head women's basketball coach Dina Henry, who runs the camp of 80 girls with 11 of her current players and coaching staff. "They are always playing and learning."

While the morning camp is for girls going into grades 4-10, Gym Rats is a four-day camp for boys and girls going into kindergarten through third grade. Gym Rats serves as an introduction to basketball, and Henry says that she incorporates fundamentals into various games to keep the 50 kids "active, interested and having fun."

The main goal of the camps is to build on campers' interest and improve their basketball skills, but it goes deeper.

"By offering camps for local youth, we're encouraging them to have an active and healthy life and to get involved in sports that will teach them many life lessons," Henry says. "The campers also meet kids from other schools and build new friendships.

Over at Biddle Field, a youth soccer camp kept 7- to 14-year-olds busy the week before. "Two years ago we had only 25 campers," says Kelly Tyrrell, head coach of Dickinson's women's soccer team, noting that this year there are 70. "So our growth as a camp is really impressive."

Focusing on the basics while building a love of the finer points of the game, the soccer camp also benefits from having an experienced staff at the ready.

"The campers learned a lot from our coaches, many of whom are players on our team," Tyrrell says. "We're hoping that running the camp every year will provide some exposure to the Dickinson women's soccer team and will generate fan support at our games from the local community."

The community can learn even more about Dickinson's program and the game itself on July 27 at Coach Tyrrell's open house and clinic (Biddle Field, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

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Published July 20, 2013