While most students can’t wait for summer to come so they can lie out in the sun, go swimming, hang out with friends or sleep in every day, some students may look forward to something different: athletic camps.
Both cheerleaders and dance team members attend a mandatory camp for a couple of days. The dance team’s camp lasts three days, packed full of different things to learn, and the cheerleader’s camp lasts for two days.
The dance team attends an athletic camp at NC State University. The team wakes up at 7 a.m. every morning and practices various activities until 10 p.m. This camp teaches things such as team bonding, basic information and instruction. Coach Nancy Brown sees the camp as a chance for team bonding.
“Everybody gets to know each other those three days and if you miss out on camp, you can really tell,” she said. “Most of the time [the] girls don’t know everybody once they make the team, but after camp, everybody knows everybody.”
“We think it’s very important that every member does attend, just [for] the team bonding and information that’s learned while we’re there,” said Brown. “[If they miss camp] they have to take it upon themselves to get with another team member to learn any dance routines that we learned at that time and try to catch up with us.”
Cheerleading coach DeLisa Cohen also believes that the camp is great for team bonding. She also sees it as a chance for her team to learn more about safety. The cheer camp is at UNC-Chapel Hill, and she believes the camp will get them recognized by colleges.
“[The camp] gives them a chance to learn safety and it’s in a safe and controlled environment,” said Cohen. “[The girls] get to learn new material and it also gets them recognized in a collegiate area.”
The camps that the cheer and dance team go to are all scheduled. The coaches sign their team up and the camp comes with an agenda. The cheer team has everything from stunting and tumbling, to cheers, chants and dances to practice and learn. The dance team learns dances, instruction and basic information that they can use later on in the year that Brown says is “very important” for the season ahead.
“We do a lot of workouts, like a lot of intensives, and we do choreography,” said dance team member Kirsten Coleman, sophomore. “[We] learned about three dances and then some team bonding activities. We used two dances [for the school year] that we learned from dance camp.”
Although the camp is mandatory, Brown understands there are situations where members have previous commitments, but they see when a girl misses the camp, they miss out on a lot.
Even though both camps are mandatory, each team member has to pay a fee to attend the camp. The dance camp cost $300, and cheerleaders paid $250. Brown said that team members could work at the PTA Thrift store to work off some or all of the money, and possibly get sponsorships to help towards the fee.
“It was kind of expensive and I wouldn’t pay for it without working,” said Coleman. “I really wanted to go and that’s why I worked so hard for it. I spent that time because I knew it would be fun and a good experience.”
These camps let the members get to know each other better and give them a valuable experience.
“I built a lot of relationships and got stronger with my team and [it’s] something that I [will] cherish for a long time and I hope I can go back and do it again,” said Coleman.
By Tori Nothnagel