3 minute read
Saints Initiation Sports Camp
Saints Initiation Sports Camp
Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent
Holidays can be a time to learn fun skills.
Students discovered how to play different sports during Spring Break when St. Mary’s Catholic Athletics Club hosted an initiation camp at St. Mary’s Catholic High School.
St. Mary’s Catholic High School Teacher Jacqueline Stuart said, “The idea of the camp came from one of our students last year as a way to support the athletics program at St. Mary’s. Parent volunteer Neila Nelsen took the lead in making the camp a reality this school year. Together, Neila and I planned and organized the camp, including trying to determine the skills that campers would be working on.
During the camp, we were there to help St. Mary’s athletes in their roles as coaches and provided help to the campers as well. There were 37 campers ranging from Grades one to six who were all students from St. Martin’s Catholic Elementary School. Campers attended anywhere from one to all four days.
The purpose of the camp was to introduce the campers to fundamental skills in volleyball, basketball, and track and field, hoping it would result in more students trying out for teams when they are in junior high.”
Stuart noted that, “Our student coaches explained the skills and provided feedback in drills for campers to improve. There was a combination of drills, challenges, and games to practice the skills. In volleyball, they worked on passing, setting, serving, and hitting. For basketball, they worked on ball handling, passing, and shooting. For track and field, campers were introduced to running, discus, javelin, shot put, long jump, high jump, and hurdles.”
When questioned about what they gained from participating, Stuart remarked, “The camp was an opportunity for the campers to learn some basics and give them things to work on independently. Hopefully, it will also help them to be confident to try out for teams in the future. We also hope that the camp gave the campers new interests in sports they may not have tried before.”
Stuart closed by saying, “Some of the highlights included seeing the growth and skill development of the campers in just three days of learning. It was also really great to meet students at our elementary school. The athletes stepped up and were amazing coaches and worked well with the campers, which was great to watch them step into such a leadership role.
As well, Collette Miller from Wilde Advisory Group donated pizza for the campers, coaches and adult helpers for one day.”
