Children of all skill levels welcome at Parks and Rec summer camps

LIL' BALLERS:
Youth learn the fundamentals of basketball during summer camp last year. This year the basketball camp will be held from June 22-25. Visit or call the Anderson Parks and Recreation Department for more information.

Summer camps sponsored by the Anderson Parks and Recreation Department are designed to give children a chance to participate in their favorite sport or activity, or to try their hand at something new.

"It's an affordable way to get your feet wet, see what the sport is all about," said Parks and Rec activities director Pam Lewis.

The camps are taught by community leaders, many whom coach or teach at the high school level. Lewis said these teachers are the main reason children keep coming back to the camps.

"All of our camp leaders are someone who has well-established programs that the kids keep coming back too because and they learn so much, and they have fun doing it," she said.

Besides having fun, Lewis said all camp-goers gain noticeable skills from their experiences.

"No matter where they come in at, you see an improvement in them, and that's fun to watch," she said.

The first summer camp opportunity will be a youth basketball camp on June 22-25. It takes place at Anderson Union High School. Skills taught at this camp include shooting, ball handling, offense, defense and more.

Tim Kleibert coaches this camp. He is also a coach in the Parks and Recreation sponsored basketball league.

"Kids always ask to come back to play on his team. He has such a good rapport with the kids," Lewis said.

The football camp takes place in July and is taught by AUHS coach Lance Gosch.

The camp will cover the basic fundamentals of football, proper running technique, footwork, stance, blocking, form tackling with bags and more.

"Our football camp is probably our most intense camp. The knowledge they are gaining is wonderful, especially if they are planning on pursuing football in the South County because they are learning from a high school coach," Lewis said.

A softball camp will be held in early July and another in August, and will be led by AUHS coach Charlie Hawkins. These camps are held in partnership with Anderson Little League, and are described as a great way for children to see if they'd like to get into the sport.

"For a very minimal cost, girls at a very young age have the opportunity to get experience in the sport and get to see if it's something they would like to pursue and follow through with," said Lewis.

For the first time, tennis camps will also be held in July, and are available to both children and adults. Camp participants will learn basic tennis skills, including forehand, backhand, footwork, how to hold the tennis rack and scoring.

A dance camp in early August is designed to teach children and teens ballet basics, and different styles of jazz, tap and hip hop. The class is taught by AUHS dance instructor Susan Romero.

"She touches on so many different styles on the class itself, and then brings in different instructors to specialize in those to just make it a great total camp," said Lewis.

A skate camp is also taking place in early August. This is one camp where children are asked to already have basic skills down.

"We ask that they are comfortable on their skateboards before they go," Lewis said.

Then, instructor Joe Nixt helps young skateboarders develop different tricks.

"Joe is awesome from with the beginners. I love to watch them from the first day to the last day," said Lewis.

One-on-one skate lesson are also available through Brian Harris, who helps coordinate the North State Skate Series. These lessons are designed for more-experienced skateboarders to fine-tune their skills. For more information about these lessons, contact Harris at Skatestuff@sbcglobal.net.