LOCK HAVEN - Throughout the summer, Lock Haven University was abuzz with the sound of children and teenagers participating in a wide variety of summer camps.
Beginning in mid-June, LHU offered a variety of athletics campus and clinics geared toward students from first grade up to senior high school.
There were camps and clinics in soccer, baseball, wrestling, football, volleyball, field hockey and lacrosse. There even was a Women's Coaching Academy for women and aspiring coaches.
All of the camps include skill instruction sessions teaching fundamentals and, depending on age, advanced techniques. Some camps are geared toward individual skills.
In team camps, high school teams from across the country attend to gain instruction as a team.
They then compete against other teams at the camp in tournament-style competition.
The camps also include additional instruction in fitness and nutrition for athletes.
Several of the camps include strategies that focus on the mental aspects of sport, including preparation, focus and strategy.
Every camp aims for its participants not only to learn, but to have fun. Almost every camp has access to the Zimmerli pool in the evenings.
In addition, several camps have cookouts or pizza nights. Movie nights are common, as well as other non-sport-specific activities such as ping-pong, wiffle ball, or pick-up games of soccer, basketball or other sports.
There also are non-sports camp offerings. "Summer Happening" is a very popular day camp program for preschool aged children and elementary students who have completed kindergarten through sixth grades. Summer Happening offers a variety of courses and activities designed for specific age groups.
Offerings in 2010 ranged from "Fitness Palooza" and "Get Wrapped Up in Ancient Egypt" to "Silly and Slimy Science" and "Showtime in the Summer."
