Office of Public Relations:                                           For more information, contact: Stephen E. Snyder

(229) 931-2028                                                                         (229) 931-2037 ssnyder@canes.gsw.edu

(229) 931-2072 fax

____________________________________________________________________________

July 22, 2010

GSW hosts camps, camps, more camps

during 2010 summer season

 

            AMERICUS—When school let out in May and the heat settled in, Georgia Southwestern State University’s campus saw no shortage in students. Coupled with those studying during June and July terms, campers honing their athletic skills and learning the values of leadership have been a constant. In all, roughly 2,000 students have or will be “camping” at GSW this summer.

To begin the season, the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership group (HOBY) held two sessions – one in late May and another in early June. Over 350 high school sophomores and HOBY staff members spent time at GSW. This was the first time HOBY held their Georgia camps at GSW, and they have plans to visit Southwestern again next year.

Nearly 100 students from Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) also spent time on the Georgia Southwestern campus, including team-building exercises on GSW’s challenge course. According to local RYLA coordinator Susan Ruckman, these students from western Georgia take advantage of Southwestern and South Georgia Technical College facilities each year. Leaders at GSW are delighted to have potential students visit campus during the summer.

“It’s a pleasure for GSW to host these camps,” said Sam Miller, vice president of Student Affairs. “It provides good exposure for GSW and allows many young people to become familiar with our campus, its facilities, and many of our resources and staff. We look forward to hosting many more camps in the future.”

Having added new intramural fields, the Student Success Center, and state-of-the-art residence halls within the last decade, GSW has also garnered much interest from athletic groups who run sports camps. At this summer’s end, Southwestern will have hosted nearly 1,500 athletes attending baseball, basketball, soccer and football camps. In particular, the June Round Ball Round-Up basketball camp and the recent Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) football team camp together hosted 1,100 athletes – 650 for the Round Ball Round-Up and 450 for the FCA camp.

Hosting summer sports camps is an important source of revenue for the GSW Athletic Department, and Athletic Director Jaclyn Kaylor has seen growth in this area over the last few years.

“Summer camps have always been our ‘kick-off’ fundraising activity to begin each fiscal year, and this summer we were able to significantly expand our camp offerings,” Kaylor said. “Football and baseball have been constant for several years, but the addition of basketball and soccer this year boosted our numbers and kept us all very busy.”

Kaylor added, “The financial benefit we gain from these camps is tremendous, but what is more important is the fact that we are getting our name out there with people who may never see GSW otherwise. Summer camps allow us to showcase this campus and hopefully pique their interest enough to bring them back.”

Over the next three weeks, GSW Athletics will host its last few camps of the summer – three high school football camps (150 campers) and its final basketball camp (50 campers).

When the summer camp season ends, Georgia Southwestern’s fall semester will be in full swing – fall classes begin Tuesday, August 17.

 - GSW -