Recreation

BY KATELIN WATSON

Participants and coaches in a summer 2021 gymnastics camp offered by the Shorewood Recreation Department and Shorewood High School. For more than 10 years, the Shorewood Recreation and Community Services Department has partnered with coaches from the Shorewood High School athletics program to provide a variety of quality youth camps for students of all ages. The partnership stemmed from a desire to drum up interest in sports among younger students and to help cover costs associated with managing high school sports teams. The Rec Department collaborates with coaches to establish camp schedules — holding most camps on the SHS campus during the summer months — and processes all camp registrations through its department.

The camps also utilize SHS student-athletes as volunteers to assist with the programming and operations. “It’s a great partnership for many reasons,” says Justin

Calvert, recreation supervisor.

“With every camp, we know we are getting a qualified WIAA coach and experienced high school athletes, which means the quality of the program is going to be excellent. The coaches get to meet the kids and parents of potential future SHS athletes and start building those community relationships. And, it’s great publicity as well as a great revenue generator for the teams.”

Profits from the camps are divided in varying degrees among the team, the Rec Department and the coaches, driven by coach preference. In a typical year, anywhere from $5,000 to $7,000 is raised for the athletics teams who host the camps.

Popular camps include football, cross country, basketball, gymnastics, volleyball, mountain biking and soccer.

SHS girls basketball coach James Wright sees the camps as a great opportunity for participants to fit some practice in and for him to develop strong relationships early on with participants, fostering a love of basketball along the way.

“One of the first camps I initiated when I came to Shorewood was the Daddy/Daughter Clinic,” Wright says. “I wanted to get to know the community and, being a girl dad myself, wanted to find a way for dads to create shared memories with their daughters. Not only is it about the young athletes learning the fundamentals of basketball and working on skill development, but there’s also this unique bonding component. The kids also get to interact with high school students they can look up to and aspire to be like.”

Gymnastic coach Mark Sullivan sees the camps as a great way for students to improve their overall wellness.

“The gymnastics summer camps we’ve offered cater to a wide range of skill levels,” he says. “Offering these camps is very important not only because they are fun, but they also expose kids to skills such as strength, flexibility, balance, cardiovascular endurance, motor-skill development and coordination. There are so many studies coming out now that show the physical and mental health benefits of physical activity, so why not get active by having fun and learning something new, like gymnastics?”

Calvert says the camps only continue to expand and that they are “a no-brainer for families” and “a low-pressure way for students to try things out before fully committing. And, the prices can’t be beat!” n

For more information on camp offerings, view the Shorewood Recreation course guide at