It should be obvious—but it isn’t in a sports world of increasing specialization — that by middle school, almost all athletes don’t have a clue what exactly they’ll be best at when it’s all said and done. They may know what they’re good at now, but many have yet to give most sports a solid, dedicated effort. Like, say, three weeks of effort.
If they attend Woodberry Forest’s Sports Camp that recently wrapped up in mid-July, they get exactly that chance.
The Sports Camp employs an approach to developing all-around athletes that has become a bit of a throwback, which makes sense because the camp’s first session was held in the summer of 1967. Campers ranging in age from 10 to 14-years old suit up for everything from football to swimming to golf to basketball. But one discipline evens the playing field.
“Most aren’t sure what they’re good at yet — most kids just want to play,” said Woodberry camp director and head football coach Clint Alexander. “And the great equalizer is floor hockey.”
Most of the 141 campers — though there are occasional exceptions — don’t have a lot of experience with hockey and the sport tends to force campers out of their comfort zone, forcing them to develop or improve different kinds of athletic skills, a key piece of the puzzle at the camp.
Skill development sessions are taught by experienced coaches, many of them varsity coaches at Woodberry, with the assistance of a counselor team made up of current and former Woodberry students. Former football players like Landrus Lewis, Will Sutherland and Danny Martinez all return to Woodberry’s campus for the three-week session.
The campers then take those skills and put them to use in competitive, often intense games. Teams are broken up as evenly as possible by previous experience that parents indicate on application forms, and they compete across the breadth of sports the camp offers.
It isn’t all skills and competition though, with hikes at Old Rag Mountain, trips to Kings Dominion and other similar activities dotting the schedule.
The camp also serves as an opportunity to show kids what Woodberry has to offer. This summer, 63 campers aged out of the program, often after years of attendance, and 50 of those potential students applied and interviewed at Woodberry.
All 63 had a chance for three weeks to give just about every sport out there a chance — even floor hockey.
