Most can easily agree that sports are a vital part of a balanced lifestyle. Aragon offers many different sports throughout the seasons of the year. When the last season finally comes and students are dismissed for the summer, most tend to continue their athletic practices during their vacation. Incorporating sports into a part of their summer schedule is an important decision for many student athletes.
Oftentimes, the financial aspect of a camp is often a limiting factor. Sophomore Christina Garcia-Rovetta attended a basketball camp at Stanford last summer but doesn’t plan on returning this summer. “I’m not doing it again because it was too expensive and I didn’t improve as much as I would have liked,” she says. To many students, these camps seem too pricey for their services.
“I don’t want to do a camp because camps are too expensive and I’d rather interact with my coach and club members,” says sophomore Malea Lamb-Hall, a member of the Aragon varsity swim team and a participant in an after-school five-day-week swim club.
Sophomore Alison Clark, another avid swimmer who participated in a Stanford camp the previous summer, expresses her doubts regarding the camp. “I’m not doing it again, it was really expensive and I didn’t benefit much more than I would have practicing with my team,” she says, looking forward to an architecture camp at Cal Poly this summer.
Aragon often offers free summer conditioning as an alternative to the expensive camps that are inconvenient to many. Sophomore Ayah Hamdan plans to participate in the volleyball conditioning program held during the last month of summer. “It’s kind of like volleyball training before tryouts. It’s twice a week, one day we do running and conditioning and other days we do practice with volleyball, drills and stuff. It goes on like this for 5 weeks.” Garcia-Rovetta agrees on the practicality of this option. “I like how [Aragon conditioning] gives you a chance to improve at your own pace and you can make friends while you’re doing it,” she says. “It’s not required but my coach greatly encourages it.” With the coach’s scheduled sessions in the gym and track for running, ball handling, and scrimmages, Aragon’s free program bears little difference to that of expensive camps, making it a convenient and desirable option.
In the rare event that a sport isn’t offered at school, students need to seek training outside of school. Sophomore Josefina Beto participates in ice skating throughout the year and is doing an intensive week long ice skating camp at Oasis in Redwood City. “It’s eight hours of conditioning a day,” she says. “Doing it during the summer helps you keep up with it and improve more.”
Others enrich their athletic experience by undergoing more intense, professional training outside of school. Sophomore Melissa Spaulding, who participated in Aragon’s two week tennis camp Go Go Tennis, is now ready for something more professional. Along with volunteering at her local hospital, Spaulding has enrolled in a tennis camp at the San Mateo Recreation Center. “It’s a great opportunity to have fun, to exercise, and to stay in shape,” she says.
Sophomore Claire Tatlow, who is in both the Aragon soccer team and the Aragon swim team, agrees with the idea, as she is excited for her week long sleep-away soccer camp in Lake Tahoe. “It’s called ‘Two Rivers,’” she explains. “I went last summer and it’s really fun. You meet new people with your interests and improve in that sport.” As for sophomore Vienna Auerweck, who is a member of the Aragon varsity volleyball team and participated in extracurricular club volleyball activities, believes that summer is a time to further improve herself. “I did a camp at Stanford University when I was in sixth grade, another camp at Santa Clara University during sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, and sophomore year, and [I participated in] Peninsula Juniors Volleyball Club last summer.”
This summer Auerweck is doing an overnight camp at Pepperdine University for a week and the Santa Clara Volleyball Camp for three days. Aragon conditioning programs differ from professional camps with the level of intensity provided, both of which are favorable programs to different people.
There’s no doubt that an extracurricular is necessary for a well-rounded lifestyle, and many think that sports is the way to go, especially during summer. Sophomore Leah Cooper believes strongly in the benefits of participating in an extracurricular program outside of school. “Having school as the only thing you do will stress you out,” she says. Cooper participates in the Aragon varsity swim team and also does competitive club swimming outside of school. Over the summer, she will continue to attend the club’s practices 5 times a week, every week. “Sports are good for you, they help you relieve stress,” she says. Auerweck agrees, “I wanted to improve on my ability but also, I didn’t want to lose all the things that I did over the year. I wanted to keep my skills up over the summer and not have a fallback when I enter in the fall.”
It’s true that experiences are often the defining factor in camps, new friendships are created and stories are cherished. “I’ll never forget this one day the Olympians were training here for the summer Olympics and we saw Michael Phelps practicing!” says Clark. Auerweck is also affected by the people she’s met. “I remember when I did the Stanford University Camp and I met a girl from China who had come all the way here to do this camp and it was really cool to meet her. You also get to meet college players from the universities and that’s really cool. You get one-on-one time with these professionals, its so fun!” It’s often heard that memories and friendships that last a lifetime are established during summertime camps, and experiences that shape a person are acquired from those few weeks spent apart from family. Camps are interactive parts of every student’s life and can be important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
