Summer camp offers more than just water activities
By PATRICK KINMARTIN Special to the Daily Press
A wave of youth programs has hit the shore of Will Rogers State Beach this summer.
Since June, hundreds of local kids have flocked to the mile-and-a-half stretch along the Pacific Coast to participate in a variety of daytime camps.
In addition to giving kids the opportunity to spend their summer at the beach, each camp sets out to help them learn specific skills pertaining to various activities, including martial arts and water rescue.
“It’s a different, action-packed way for them to learn,” said Chris Gard, whose son, Sean, attends a youth volleyball camp at Will Rogers.
The camp is put on by former professional beach volleyball players Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos, teammates who captured several world championships together in the 1990s. Smith, who learned to play on Sorrento Beach when he was 5, said organizing camps in the area is the perfect way to share his experience growing up with aspirations of becoming a volleyball star.
“This camp wasn’t my idea originally, but I’m glad I’ve become a part of it,” Smith said. “Randy and I had been doing clinics all over the world for a long time until one day he came up with the idea to do it locally. It made perfect sense. There are a lot of kids around here who really understand the game and will benefit with some teaching.”
Smith, Stoklos and a group of other professional players spend three hours every weekday morning teaching 5-to 14-year-olds the fundamentals of hitting, footwork and other aspects of the game. Participants then get the chance to compete against each other on 11 different courts set up in the sand.
YOUNG WATER RATS Just feet away from the courts, hordes of junior lifeguards practice rescue techniques daily by sprinting in and out of the water as part of LA County’s junior lifeguard program. The program, a five-and-a-half week course for 9-to 17-year-olds, is designed to train young people on how to handle themselves and others safely in various ocean and emergency situations.
The training includes rigorous swimming and running workouts aimed to prepare the junior lifeguards for strength and fitness tests they will have to pass to become professional lifeguards in the future.
“It may seem tiring, but it’s actually a lot of fun,” said 10-year-old junior lifeguard Wyn Delano. “It’s cool because we know it’s going to help us become better.”
In between practicing rescue techniques in the water, junior lifeguards also learn about first aid, CPR and marine biology.
“In a sense, it’s just like school,” said Shannon Brooks, one of the program’s instructors who also is a lifeguard. “Once they’ve made it through the program by mastering certain knowledge and techniques, they get patches they can wear on jackets showing they’ve completed it.”
Just north of the beach’s lifeguard station, an array of canopies and set-ups for beach sports are sprawled across the sand as part of “Fitness by the Sea,” a day camp with activities that “cater to every child.”
For kids who like to play in the ocean, the camp offers surf, boogie board and kayak lessons. On shore, other campers can choose from different stations, which include everything from gymnastics to boxing to martial arts as music blares from large speakers.
“As a camper, you can spend the entire day here without touching the water and still have a blast,” said camp director Josh Schulman. “We want kids to learn everything they can, so we make sure each activity has a counselor specifically skilled in that area so they can give campers the best instruction possible.”
Schulman said the camper-to-counselor ratio is 6 to 1, a number the staff takes pride in.
“It helps keep the kids active,” said counselor Rebecca Teichman. “The last thing they need is a dull moment and I don’t think there ever is one here.”
BeachSports, a non-profit organization established in 1995, offers a camp similar to Fitness by the Sea. It teaches kids ages 5 to 15 how to surf, body board, play beach volleyball and be safe in the water. About 25 kids congregate on the beach each morning and afternoon to get plenty of sun, surf and exercise.
“The kids who like having fun are the ones who come here,” said 12-year old Jordan Cohen, who has been a camper at BeachSports for five years.
Jack Tingley, the youth director and founder of BeachSports, said the camp serves about 1,000 families per season and aims to create a fun, relaxed atmosphere for young kids. The priority, Tingley stressed, is safety.
“One of the basic things that sets us apart is the discipline we expect from our experienced instructors,” said Tingley, a 15-year veteran Los Angeles County Lifeguard and former NCAA swimming champion at USC. “When you are dealing with the ocean you really need to be hands-on with the kids.”
Like most of the camps on Will Rogers, BeachSports will run through the end of August. All of the camps also plan to return next summer, which excites Gard and other parents who send their kids to them.
“It’s a full day and that’s all you can ask for as a parent,” Gard said. “By the time they get home, they are dirty, tired and hungry, but that’s because they’ve spent the whole day having fun and worrying about nothing else.” (Writer Jeremy Kutner contributed to this report.)
“By the time they get home, they are dirty, tired and hungry, but that’s because they’ve spent the whole day having fun and worrying about nothing else.” — — CHRIS GARD Parent of camper
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 9, 2003. Read the original PDF.