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Pittsburg State offers a variety of summer sports camps including camps for football, basketball, baseball and volleyball.
Football had an Elite Camp for upcoming high school seniors on Sunday, June 9. There was a camp for first through fifth graders on Thursday, June 13. The camp for sixth through eighth graders was also on June 13. The Team Camps were split up into two sessions. Session one was from Sunday, June 2 to Tuesday, June 4. Session two was from June Thursday, 6 to Saturday, June 8.
Women’s basketball had two team camps this summer. The first session was from Wednesday, June 12 to Friday, June 14. Session two was from Wednesday, June 19 to Friday, June 21. There was also Grade School Camp that was split into two sections. The first one was for third through fifth grade students and the second one was for sixth through eighth grade students from Sunday, June 23 to Tuesday, June 25.
Head Women’s Basketball Coach Amanda Davied believes the camps bring the team closer together.
“… For our players, it gives them time to be around each other during the summer time and build chemistry and comradery throughout the summer as well and hang out and enjoy each other company,” Davied said.”
Hosting these summer camps also shows off our athletic department, facilities, university, and community.
“… I think it gets them on Pittsburg State’s campus and lets them see what a… hidden jewel we have here in Pittsburg, Kansas that maybe they did not know about and hopefully peaks their interest in our community and our university,” Davied said. “…I think it also exposes what great athletic facilities we have and hopefully that word gets spread from mouth and mouth and they just find out what a great institution we have here in Pittsburg.”
According to Davied, it was a team effort by Pitt State and by the community of Pittsburg.
“… We appreciate all the hard work from the community and Pittsburg State University, and it is a lot of teamwork putting it on,” Davied said. “But I think it is a great recruiting tool for all of us at Pittsburg State and to have about 1500 students on campus that are all looking for a future place to land and go to college…”
Men’s basketball had an overnight Individual Camp from Sunday, June 2 to Tuesday, June 4. The Team Camp was from Friday, June 7 to Sunday, June 9. The Elite Camp for high school students is Saturday, August 3.
Baseball had the Gorilla Showcase Camp on Tuesday, June 11 and the Gorilla Junior Baseball Camp from Monday, June 17 to Thursday, June 20.
Head Baseball Coach Bob Fornelli believes the camps are a good way for the team to get to know some of the younger athletes in the community.
“Well, it gives them (current PSU athletes) an opportunity to interact with the community’s youth,” Fornelli said. “It gives them an opportunity to be around the kids as much as they possibly can.”
Volleyball had an All Skills Camp from Wednesday, June 5 to Thursday, June 6. There was a Passing/Serving Clinic and a Setter/Hitter Clinic on Saturday, June 15. Little Gorilla Volleyball Camp was from Monday, June 17 to Tuesday, June 18. The Team Camp is currently still going. It started on Thursday, July 11 and will end on Saturday, July 13. The Elite Volleyball Camp us coming up. It is set for July 15 to July 17.
According to Head Volleyball Coach Jen Gomez, the camps are a great way to build team bonds.
“Well, it lets the incoming freshman come and… meet the rest of the team,” Gomez said. “Plus, it kind of gets them all back together where they can play if they want to, set up an open gym, go work out and lift weights… whatever they want to do. But, it kind of just gets them all back together and on campus.”
Younger athletes participating in the camps chance to enhance their skills and be active.
“I think it just gives them an opportunity to practice their skills and get better at the various sports that they are participating in,” Gomez said. “For us, I just think that we are trying to provide opportunities for all age groups to learn the sport of volleyball or just get better at the volleyball skill. But I just think we are all trying to give kids an opportunity to play.”
Camps are also good for recruitment.
“…We are getting more and more teams at our team camp and we are getting more kids at our other camps so for us we are increasing our numbers and that is good for our program,” Gomez said. “It lets us do some recruiting and kind of see what’s out there in our area and I think it also just brings exposure to Pittsburg State University and it also brings in exposure to the city of Pittsburg which I think is great.”
For more information on summer sports camps, visit the PSU Athletic Website (www.pittstategorillas.com).
