LEARN A SKILL
THIS SUMMER
Specialty Camps Give
Kids Focus and Drive
BY JILLIAN DIAMOND
WITH MANY SUMMER CAMPS
closing their registration period
only a few months into the year,
you might be feeling the pressure
to narrow down camp choices, but
too many options can make it difficult.

DePalo, owner of Eastern Watersports, whose Baltimore-area
summer camp program is a one-stop shop for waterfront-based
activities like sailing, kayaking and sports including water vol-
leyball and paddle board hockey.

“Here, you’re basically on the water and in your life jacket
from the moment you arrive,” he says.

Camps like these give kids the chance to discover new
talents or hone strengths they’ve acquired from sports or
extracurricular activities during the year — and summer is the
ideal time for that, since your child’s energy isn’t split between
school and other responsibilities.

GYMNASTS: CHERRY-MERRY/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS;
DYNAMITE CAMPS
What if your child doesn’t find their niche?
Day and overnight camps are dedicated to offering a large
variety of activities in order to appeal to every child. But the
broad scope of these programs make it so that if kids do find
an activity they really like, they may not have as much time to
spend on it.

This is where specialized camps come in. Camps focused
on one skill or area of interest can provide more detailed and
all-encompassing instruction in their given fields.

“Water activities at more general summer camps are just
one small part of their overall programming,” explains Philip



HERE ARE SOME WAYS
KIDS CAN BENEFIT
FROM A MORE
FOCUSED EXPERIENCE:
GYMNAST: KALI9/E+/GETTY IMAGES
Quality Instructors
While all camps can be expected to fol-
low standards for training and safety in
sports, at a skill-focused camp, the back-
ground of quality instructors might be
more extensive.

“We live, eat and breathe gymnastics,”
says Michelle Carhart, owner of Motion
Education, which creates programs for
Dynamite Gymnastics Center gyms, of
camp staff.

“With beginners, you want to make sure
they’re learning the right way so they want
to move on, learn more and eventually
compete. They’re not going to develop bad
practicing habits, and if people at gyms or
general camps don’t have a proper under-
standing of the mechanics of gymnastics,
it can hurt them later if they want to do it
seriously,” she says.

Dynamite Gymnastics Center, which
has four locations throughout Maryland,
including one in North Bethesda/Rockville,
offers weeklong summer camp programs
ideal for children interested in learning
how to fly through the air.

Similarly, many of the counselors at
Eastern Watersports’ camp are trained
sailing instructors who are members of the
American Sailing Association, giving them
a great deal of expertise and experience to
impart to their campers.

Campers at Pennsylvania-based Ashford
Farm are paired with another camper at the
start of the week, and given a horse or pony
to share. They take turns learning to ride
while the other attends lectures on equine
care and safety, or participates in some of the
other activities offered by the camp such as
art, yoga and swimming.

“The focus is on safety so [campers]
don’t get hurt and learn to treat the horses
with respect so that the horses will treat
them with respect,” explains Carolina
Canavan, who opened Ashford Farm with
her husband Bill in 1972. The camp’s coun-
selors are professional riding instructors
at the farm.

The horse riding school in Lafayette
Hill has offered a day camp program for
many years. Campers can spend up to eight
weeks learning all about horses, from how
to properly groom and care for them to
how to ride one.

Inclusion and Flexibility
Specialty camps can also be a great
opportunity for kids to get their feet wet
before investing in a sport or activity
— especially for those who might not oth-
erwise have the chance.

“For such a dense waterfront population
[in Baltimore], there isn’t a lot of opportu-
nity to get out on the water,” notes DePalo.

“Traditionally, it seems to be more for
affluent people, and that’s definitely not
our goal. We’re excited to get the actual
citizens of Baltimore County out on the
water, so we’re pretty excited about camp.”
And while it might seem that signing
up for a skill-centric camp would mean an
intensive experience for kids, camps are
flexible to beginners—or even those who
just have an interest in learning more.

“It’s great for kids with an interest
in horses, and who want to be around
horses,” says Canavan of Ashford Farm. “A
Camps can
be expected to
follow standards
of training and
safety at a skill-
focused camp;
the background
of quality
instructors might be more
extensive. lot of our campers go on to take care of or
even own horses.”
Dynamite has the variety for those who
want to explore. Campers at one location
might be able to learn traditional gym-
nastics, while some of the others offer
programs like parkour, ‘Ninja Warrior’-
esque agility training and cheer.

“We get a lot of people who are afraid to
come to gymnastics camp because they’ve
never done gymnastics before,” says
Carhart. “But we work with all levels. The
cool thing about gymnastics is that it’s pro-
gressive, and you can try new things based
on your experience level.”
Carhart adds that a benefit of having a
camp largely focused on gymnastics is that
campers are able to track their improve-
ment throughout the week.

“[Other camps] do tend to have their
achievements be more unit-based, like win-
ning games, as opposed to getting better at
something,” she notes. “Gymnastics gives
kids more experience with goals. By the
end of the week, they’ll have accomplished
something specific, like learning to do a flip
or a cartwheel … you can actually learn spe-
cific skills and walk away with that at the
end of the week.”
Carhart also stresses the importance of
allowing campers to partake in other activ-
ities, such as arts and crafts, so that they
don’t get burnt out or discouraged.

Learning Beyond
the Skill
The knowledge that campers walk away
with after camp might go beyond the new
skillset itself, too.

At Eastern Watersports, some of the
other activities offered at its camp include
adventure tours that let campers experi-
ence the nature of the Chesapeake Bay and
the surrounding area. Eastern Watersports
has partnered with Marshy Point Nature
Center and Baltimore City Parks and
Recreation to expand the reach of its
boating expeditions.

Canavan says that working with horses
can also improve campers’ social skills.

“We had a camper last summer who
started riding in the spring, and she was
12. When she came here for lessons, she
would not talk, and her mother had to
come in and talk for her. In the first week
of camp, by Thursday, she was talking to
everyone in camp because [horseback rid-
ing] just brings them out of their shell.

[Working with horses] gives children a
sense of responsibility and someone they
can tell all of their problems to,” she says. 1
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