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Campers Have Lots of Options With Local Sports Camps
Former stud athletes teaching tricks of the trade to area youth
by Ray Gallagher
Over the course of the last few weeks I've had the privilege of attending three different sports camps within 10-15 miles of the PCN&R region, and it got me to thinking: Man, we never had nothing like this when we was growing up back in the day. I mean, kids today got the world by lacrosse balls, basketballs and any other ball you can think of. In a span of 10 days, I visited with NBA great Elton Brand at his 42 Sports Basketball Camp, MLL greats Roy Colsey and Rob Doerr at the Superstar Lacrosse Camp and Scott and Kristin Bulkley at the Putnam Valley Parks & Recreation girl's lacrosse camp.
Back in the day, we had nothing like this. You pretty much went to a sweltering day camp, or stayed home and bummed around Fahnstock State Park or the old Westchester Mall all summer in your Chuck Taylor Cons and your cut-off Levi shorts (real shorts, mind you).
Superstar Lacrosse Camps, which is open to anyone who wants to attend, features former Yorktown All-Americans Roy Colsey and Rob Doerr, two of the biggest names in lacrosse history. The only summer lacrosse camp in this neck of the woods back in the day was held over at West Point, which helped develop All-Americans at an alarming rate one week a year. Colsey and Doerr, Major Lacrosse League All-Stars and MVPs, are running four local camps this summer and probably for 30 summers thereafter. It's an intense, up-close-and-personal look at the roots of the game; taught in fancy fashion - the Yorktown way. These guys were obviously among the best in the world when at the top of their game, and now they're making it easy for kids to learn the game and increase their skill level. Of course it comes at a price ($290), but you get four full days worth of learning from two of the greatest players in the world. The "Roots" camp at Yorktown High School concluded this past week, but the duo are offering camps at Danbury High (July 16), the Harvey School in Katonah (July 23), Kennedy High in Somers (July 30) and Horace Greeley in Chappaqua (August 6) for those looking to up the ante of their game (see www.superstarlacrosse.com).
And when NBA All-Star Elton Brand showed his face at the Brewster Sports Center two weeks back, you could have lit up the night sky with the bright-eyed teens and pre-teens who had been hard at work all week under the tutelage of Peekskill Coach Lou Panzanaro, Somers Coach Al Morales and Brand's brother Artie McGriff at "The 42". Imagine having something like this to attend during summer break when we were kids growing up in these here sticks back in the '70s and '80s. Heck, did anyone ever think we'd have anything like the Brewster Sports Center; a state-of-the-art athletic facility, which offers some of the best basketball instruction around… not to mention soccer, field hockey, lacrosse and baseball. If you haven't seen this facility, check it out. It's sick! Lou DeMello's got more than just basketball going on at the other end of Putnam County (see www.brewstersportscenter.com). The guy is just terrorizing the sports market with a vast array of instructional camps designed to do more than just baby sit the kids for a week.
Then, over in Putnam Valley, I saw first-hand how girl's lacrosse is threatening to take over the locals. More than 40 girls were under the watchful of Darien (CT) Coach and Putnam Valley resident Scott Bulkley, a former UNC stud in the wee '90s. What this guy did in four days, with the help of former Lakeland/Panas All-Stars, was amazing. L/P Coach Sharon Sarsen stopped by on several occasions to offer her vintage perspective on the sport, too. His wife Kristin, the Coach at Putnam Valley High, has a bun in the oven or she would have been all over it. In just three years, this camp has doubled in size and tripled in knowledge.
It'll run again next year in early July, so don't hesitate to make your plans for all of these terrific sports camps, including the many wonderful summer sports camps run at the Putnam Valley High School; from field hockey (in August) to basketball, soccer, lacrosse and everything in between (call 845-528-7412 for info).
Not to be left out of the list of sports camps available, the Philipstown Recreation Department runs a series of Sports Clinics each summer, showcasing the teaching and sports talents of many local residents. These dedicated folks are passionate when it comes to passing on the skills and tricks that they've learned in their careers. Check out their list in the Recreation News, call 424-4618, or go to www. philipstownrecreation.com. for more information.
If I still had game, I would be checking out camps to improve my game, but I hung up my Chucks long ago and stopped wearing the cut-off Levis when the Peace sign went out.
Check out www.yourdirectrays.com for Section 1 photo galleries.
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