Although collegiate sports go on hiatus during the summer
months, the practice fields and courts remain packed. And even
though they are not yet preparing for the new season, some players
and coaches still arrive at UCLA by 9 a.m., ready for a full day of
drills and games.
Instead of coaches shouting in frustration at their
players’ mistakes, however, both are using the summer season
to enjoy the lighter side of their sports.
With countless numbers of kids piling out of their
parents’ cars and many more scurrying down Bruin Walk from
the dorms, UCLA Summer Sports Camps have coaches and players using
the word “˜fun’ like never before.
“The emphasis isn’t on winning,” UCLA head
baseball coach Gary Adams said. “We just want to teach them
how to play the great game of baseball and have fun.”
Adams is running his baseball camp for the 23rd consecutive
year.
UCLA hosts 18 different sports camps, all of which are directed
by coaches and players that echo Adams’ sentiments.
“The motto of the day camps is “˜fun,'”
men’s head soccer coach Tom Fitzgerald said. “We want
them smiling when they come in the morning and when they
leave.” Fitzgerald has been running camps for 25 years.
The coaches relish the more relaxed atmosphere and exuberance
the kids bring on a daily basis.
“It’s been uplifting to see these kids playing the
game,” Adams said. “It reminds me of when I was playing
the game as a kid. By the end of the summer, I’m completely a
kid. It’s never gotten old to me.”
Adams is not the only UCLA coach to have run a camp for over two
decades.
Men’s tennis coach Billy Martin has been running his camp
for 31 summers. Throughout the period, he has seen kids return year
after year. He has taught kids who have grown up and then sent
their own kids to his camp.
The camps have taken on an extra-special meaning for Martin the
past couple years, now that his two sons, Travis and Will, have
joined.
“It makes it so much fun to watch them develop and mature
socially,” Martin said.
Other coaches have also benefited from the relationships they
have developed through the summer camps.
“It’s a great way for the community to get to know
our players, which can help us gain a following,”
women’s basketball head coach Kathy Olivier said, who is
running the girl’s basketball camp for the 11th straight
summer.
Most coaches, like Olivier, bring in current players to assist
the camps. For the athletes, coaching is the perfect summer
job.
“I love working with kids,” women’s basketball
starting guard Nikki Blue said. “They look up to us and treat
us like celebrities.”
After camp sessions, kids will rush up to the athletes, armed
with a ball, pen and anxious face.
“When they see me as a UCLA athlete, they ask for
autographs,” pitcher Mike Castillo said. “It’s
kind of funny.”
Like Blue, Castillo has enjoyed the experience of working with
younger kids, so much so that he wakes up at 6 a.m. every camp day
to make the commute from Orange County.
“Being outside, playing baseball, and working with friends
beats any other job,” he said.
The athletes’ experiences have helped them gain a better
understanding of what their coaches go through.
“You have to be patient and know the difference between
levels,” said Blue, who is considering putting on her own
camp in her hometown of Bakersfield next year.
The athletes also have the opportunity to see their coaches in a
new light.
“We’re all in shorts and Skip [Coach Adams] comes
out full of energy in full uniform yelling at the top of his lungs,
telling stories. It’s great,” Castillo said.
“He’s really out there for the kids.”
Yet for all the effort coaches and players put forth to get
smiles on the kids’ faces, it’s nevertheless hard to
compare it to the work they’ll soon return to.
“It’s a break,” Fitzgerald said. “Kids
are a real hoot.”