August 11, 2011
Yale University
2011 Summer Newsletter NYSP Caps of Successful 16th Year
- The New York group at Dance Class On July 5th Yale‟s National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) kicked off for its 16th consecutive year. The camp, which featured 200 campers from around New Haven, ran for the four weeks of July. The 200 campers were split up into eight different groups, named after states and grouped by age, such as “New York” for eight year olds, and “New Jersey” for thirteen and fourteen year olds, with ages in the camp ranging from eight to fourteen. The campers participated in many activities equaling many days of fun!
Campers rotated around the different sports and activities with their groups daily. Every day consisted of four activity/sports periods and a lunch. Lunch was served at the Yale Hall of Graduate Studies Dining Hall, where the campers were served a USDA approved lunch. Favorites items included chicken nuggets and ice cream. The sports in which the campers received instruction were: softball, basketball, football, swimming, dance, kickball, and football. The campers also received
alcohol and drug awareness classes in addition to education classes where they participated in hands on educational activities. One day the groups were taught how to make homemade ice cream in plastic bags. Needless to say it was a big hit with the campers! Another big hit with the campers was the boathouse. The oldest group had the opportunity to go out to the Yale Boathouse to learn how to row on several occasions. The lessons began inside and then concluded on the water. The campers thoroughly enjoyed their
field trips. Several campers who have been part of NYSP for several years and were in the oldest group this year noted the field trips as one of the perks to being in the oldest group. The last week of camp featured many fun activities. First, on Wednesday of the last week was the annual talent/fashion show to showcase the talents of the campers. For more information on the talent show, see page two! The camp concluded with a celebratory Camp Olympics on July 29th which included Olympic style competitions such as an egg toss and an obstacle race. For more on the Camp Olympics, see page four! The staff planned and oversaw all the fun activities. NYSP camp director Faeisha Morrison led an experienced an enthusiastic
NYSP team of over thirty, including several Yale student-athletes and students from other local universities and high schools. The staff worked as a cohesive unit with freedom given to the various sports instructors to create their own lesson plans for each day. This meant for unique and exciting things for campers to do at all of the activities— keeping campers engaged and interested. When asked what the best part of camp was, Julante James Newton, 8, exclaimed, “the coaches! I loved my coaches. They helped me learn new things and helped me with sports!” The talented staff members and enthusiastic campers combined to make NYSP‟s 16th season a very successful one.
NYSP History—National Roots; Local Preservation The National Youth Sports Program is a national initiative which was undertaken by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its member institutions in 1969. The objectives of the program were to expand opportunities for the community youth by giving them the chance to play sports and receive instruction in differ-
ent sports and also to enable NCAA schools to be more actively involved in their communities. The program began receiving funding from the national government (through an amendment to the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act) in 1972. The government selected institutions to host the summer camp, and then gave the various institutions funding
to do so. Yale was lucky to be chosen as one of the institutions, and thus began Yale‟s National Youth Sports program sixteen years ago. In total, 2 million campers are estimated to have attended an NYSP in one of the over 200 colleges that have participated in the program over the last forty years. At the peak of NYSP, Congress provided $15 million
yearly to run the camps nationwide. Unfortunately, in 2005 Congress stopped providing funds to NYSP. However, some institutions continued the programs using private funding. Thanks to funding from the university and local donors the program is still going strong at Yale today. Yale University‟s
President, Richard C. Levin, Yale athletic director, Thomas Beckett, former camp administrator and assistant athletic director Tim Ford, and other leaders behind the scenes of NYSP recognize the great benefits of the camp and have worked to ensure it is preserved. It is thanks to their efforts that the camp remains at Yale.