Hudson Valley offers youth athletic programs

Skylar Blankenship
Sports Editor

Younger students will take their place on campus’ fields after spring athletes score the final points of their season.

Each summer, the Community and Professional Education Department sponsors camps for children in the community. This year there will be three full and 11 half-day athletic camps with options for boys and girls between the ages of 6-16.

The purpose of the athletic camps is to help campers grow as athletes by nurturing their interest and knowledge of sports, familiarizing young people with how to play and improving pre-existing skills.

Campers will be divided into groups in each camp based on their age and ability.

Some head coaches from the Athletics Department coach summer classes as well, offering students college level instruction within the program.

Kelsey Wilson, women’s volleyball head coach, will be coaching the half-day volleyball camp for ages 9-15. Travis Cooke, men’s soccer head coach, will be coaching the full-day soccer camp for ages 6-16.

Mike Muehling, men’s football head coach and athletic academic coordinator, will be coaching the half-day football camp for ages 7-12.

“The youth football camp is July 10-14. It’s a great opportunity for kids ages 7-12 to learn the basic fundamentals of all positions,” said Muehling.

Other full-day camps include all-sports in which campers will participate in wiffle-ball, badminton, a basketball camp for ages 7-16 and more.

The half-day camps include a dodgeball camp, where campers ages 10-14 will end the week with a tournament and a track and field camp where campers age 8-12 will learn more about the sport through different activities.

Athletic camps usually run one week at a time and will be available between June 26 and Aug 4 costing between $90 and $165. Before and after care is also available for an extra fee.