A variety of sports camps are offered throughout the summer for children in grades 1-9. Seven sports camps, ranging from soccer to volleyball, were held throughout last summer. Student athlete Sophia Fantauzzi sees growth in younger athletes and many other benefits for the campers through these opportunities. “You get to know the older girls at camp. Rising freshman are basically playing with their future teammates. It’s really helpful to already have a relationship established before tryouts,” Fantauzzi said. Fantauzzi said according to her coach it depends on the year, but usually the camp hosts kids from 3rd-grade all the way through rising freshmen in the Roberson gym. She has played volleyball for six seasons and attended many of the camps when she was younger as well. “My mom used to be a coach here, so I went to all the kids’ camps,” Fantauzzi said. For Rachael Petre, English teacher and head coach of the women's varsity basketball program, camps are about her high school players using what they learned during the season to teach the campers. She said they usually expects between 60-70 attendees during the summer. “The most memorable part is seeing the kids that I coach step up and become the coaches. I see that they listen, and they can take some things from our practices and make sure the younger ones are doing them the correct way, too,” Petre said. Junior Jacob McCarthy, who has played baseball since the age of 4 and now plays for the varsity team, said their camp is all about the basics. “They learn the game, so by the time they are in middle school and high school, they already know the fundamentals and are easier to coach,” McCarthy said. McCarthy attended the same kids’ baseball camp when he was in intermediate school. He still remembers the faces of those who encouraged his growth. “The way the older boys helped me was something that influenced me to continue to play baseball. That’s why we continue to do it every year,” he said. According to Fantauzzi, although the annual camp offers benefits, challenges also arise when working with children of the elementary age. “When the kids are little and don’t have a big attention span, you have about five seconds to say what you need to say before it starts to go in one ear and come out the other,” Fantauzzi said. After a few years of experience, Petre said she understands how to run a camp that will be lively yet informative. “When you get a lot of kids in one area, you just have to make sure that you’re organized. You work hands on, and you can keep things fun while learning at the same time,” Petre said. The summer camps are designed to provide new possibilities for campers to flourish and mature while the athletes get the chance to take on new leadership roles. “I think it is really good to see the varsity and JV players here at TC interact and be role models to the younger campers,” Petre said. “The younger players get to have the players, who they watch during the season, be a part of their camp experience. Those kids eventually become part of the program here when they grow up.”