Friday, June 26, 1998
Penn State Sport Camps invade University again
By MICHAEL LELLOCollegian Staff Writer
With helmets and bats, swimming suits and golf clubs, they arrive every summer. They're the elementary school and high school students of the Penn State Sport Camps.
A group of girls play 3-on-3 Tuesday at the Intramural Building as part of Lady Lion basketball camp. The camp ended yesterday. (Collegian Photo/Hector I. Caro - click for full size image)
Dillon Gourley, a defensive and offensive tackle from New Jersey's
Point Pleasant Beach High School, said he came to the football
camp because he had heard it is one of the top camps in the country.
He completed the camp yesterday, the second of three football
camps run by the University. He now believes the camp is one of
the nation's best.
"I learned a lot of stuff I never would've learned if I didn't
come to the camp," Gourley said.
He added that he and his high school teammate who also attended
the camp will try to bring some of what they learned at Penn State
to their high school team this fall.
Gourley said each player received one-on-one attention from the
coaches and were given specific instruction at their position
in groups. Penn State position coaches worked extensively with
the players who play the position they specialize in.
Gourley, who attended a similar camp at the University of Delaware
said the Penn State camp was much better, and he would definitely
be interested in playing for the Nittany Lions if he is recruited.
Along with workouts, the camp also featured lectures from Penn State coaches, including defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, the camp's field director. The camp, in its twenty-fourth year, also includes a barbecue at Beaver Stadium for all the campers and instructors.
A football camp participant gets hit after catching the ball during a drill on Wednesday on the fields near the flower gardens. (Collegian Photo/Zubin Patrawala - click for full size image)
Penn State Lady Lion basketball center/forward Marissa Graby said
she and the other Penn State players enjoyed spending time with
the campers in the dorms.
"They gave us food," Graby said of the campers, who
ranged in age from fourth to eleventh grade.
Graby said that the Lady Lions, who are all required to work at
the camp, learn while teaching the youngsters.
"You review your own fundamentals," Graby said.
The junior said that she feels a sense of accomplishment after
completing the camp. Seeing the marked improvement in some of
the less-skilled campers showed her that the camp is definitely
a worthwhile activity.
Besides football and basketball, Penn State operates summer camps for every sport from swimming to golf. The only sport played at Penn State that doesn't offer a camp is rugby. Katie Holsopple, sports camp staff assistant, said the camps department will try to set up a rugby camp for next summer.
