Year-round sports keep local kids busy

The allure of summer break has changed since I was in high school.

I’m only 25, so it’s not like it was eons ago. But I couldn’t wait for the glorious freedom the last day of school would bring.

After months of arduous tests, homework and after-school practices, I had big summer plans. I was going to do absolutely nothing and love every minute of it.

But that’s all gone now. High school sports have become more of a big business every year and athletes and coaches can’t afford to just compete from August to June anymore.

That’s why all the summer camps that recently ended at Eastern View, the camps scheduled at Culpeper High School and the rest of the summer sports activities around the county are so important.

“Sports have definitely become a year-round thing,” EVHS football coach Greg Hatfield said. “Everybody has to get faster and stronger in the offseason.”

Eastern View hosted three separate four-day sports camps last week. Hatfield and his staff invited second-graders through seniors to their football camp and had a great turnout. He then wrapped up the week with a 12-team 7-on-7 passing tournament.

“Summer workouts pay off a lot in that the kids get to see each other work hard,” Hatfield said. “Bonds and mutual respect are built through sweating together and building a team atmosphere.”

Football players weren’t the only ones building chemistry last week, though. EVHS girls basketball coach Mike McCombs welcomed 28 young ladies interested in bettering their skills and may have uncovered a future star in Taylor Shanks.

“These sessions are very important,” McCombs said. “If we aren’t holding them at Eastern View, we’re going to get left behind because I know they are at schools like James Monroe and Chancellor.”

Also luring student-athletes to Eastern View last week was the fourth-annual Raging Bull summer lacrosse camp.

Since calling an end to the school year, Eastern View’s sports fields have been a flurry of activity, but there’s still plenty of summer left and a plethora of camps to be held.

A field hockey camp is slated to begin July 11 at CCHS, the Culpeper Blue Angels cheerleading and tumbling clinics will kick off July 14 and a soccer camps are scheduled for July 6 and 27.

Still on tap at Eastern View is a baseball conditioning program hosted by EVHS assistant coach Jared Carlson, and a tennis camp hosted by EVHS coach Worth Richardson.

“These summer workouts are more important that actual practice or preseason,” Richardson said. “This is where you have the opportunity to move up a level and gain on your opponents.”

High school teams aren’t the only ones staying busy, though. The Little League all-star tournaments have just begun. And two years removed from having none, Culpeper is home to two American Legion baseball teams that are in full swing.

There are also basketball camps hosted by community members such as Richie Safren and Terry Hoffman, which are slated to begin in the near future.

With more and more athletes using sports as a path to college and professional contracts getting bigger every year, it’s no wonder high school athletics have become a year-round endeavor.

The benefits of offseason workouts are obvious for most athletes, but the importance of summer sports programs goes beyond improving a 40-yard dash time or how much you can bench.

Kids of all ages need these programs to help them stay active, healthy, learn how to socialize and stay out of trouble.

Culpeper’s population has boomed over the last several years, adding to the number of young people that need entertainment and structure. I guess we’re lucky to live in a community that isn’t afraid to fill that demand.