TERPS TRACK & FIELD CAMP - MORE THAN JUST MILES

The first thing you might consider when signing up for a track and field camp is “Why, all we’re gonna do is run.  I can do that at home for free.”  WRONG.  You learn that pretty much everything you thought you knew about running is wrong. What track camp teaches you is how to do things right.

At the University of Maryland Track and Field Camp held at Kehoe Stadium on the campus of the University of Maryland College Park on June 23-27, campers learned how to do things right. Cyrus Britt, from DC and Bowie high school said, “We’ve been doing drill after drill after drill. We’ve worked on technique, form and a lot of block work.” Britt continued, “I had heard that this camp was good from the kids that came here last year, but I didn’t imagine how much information I got in just the first two days.”

Danielle Siebert, a camp counselor and ex-Maryland runner said that the main focus of the camp is to be specific to what each athlete wants and needs. “We all start out together in the morning doing drills and warm-up together, but after that we all break up into smaller groups based on ability and goals”, said Seibert.

Wednesday's schedule for the camp consisted of a half hour talk about the Olympic Games and the mental aspects of training by camp co-coordinator and Maryland head coach Anthony Valmon. This was followed by a 30 minute warm-up, stretching and drill session and then a 30 minute session on the green hurdles. The green hurdles are a series of plyometric exercises over short hurdles that improve agility and co-ordination.

Athletes are not just allowed to go through each drill and allowed to do them incorrectly. Throughout the session, camp counselors pulled individual athletes to the side to work them through the drill step by step so they would see the value of why they were doing the drill.  Counselors not only showed the proper way of doing the drill, but took the time to explain why the drill was being performed.

Dominic Berger and Adam Durham, both Maryland athletes and counselors had huge smiles on their faces watching and helping the young athletes. “I’m surprised at how much information I really know,” said Durham. “All these years of my coaches telling me things and now I can take that information and help someone else.” Berger, a NCAA qualifier in the hurdles said, “It’s all about giving back.” “I’m repaying all the hard work that my coaches did for me by helping someone else.”

Following the drill sessions, there was an hour session of training broken up by event. Some athletes did interval training on the track; some went to work on starts, while others headed to the long jump pit or the throws area.

Campers then headed towards the student union for lunch where you would think that they would make sure they would eat a nutritious meal, but that is not always the case. Camper Ken Shimonoto of Poolesville, when asked about his eating habits during lunch said, “Taco Bell, pizza – I’m hungry! I’ll eat healthy when I get home, but I’m having fun now.”

Athletes were given another half hour after lunch to walk around and stay cool. With the temperature in the 90’s, counselors wanted to make sure that any food was digested and that the campers stayed hydrated throughout the day. There was a kickball tournament for the campers in early afternoon, which not only served as a fun event, but also doubled as another workout that focused on agility and short sprints.

All campers participated in a long jump clinic beginning at 2:30 and followed that with another individualized training session for an hour. The day ended with all campers working on handoffs for both the 400 and 1600 relays.

The camp also has individualized training sessions for throwers headed by Maryland coach Roland Desonier. Two of the campers were Marcus Brown on Quince Orchard and Channing Johnson of Dematha.

Brown stressed all the drill they were learning and how Coach Desonier was able to break down each second of their throws for them. “I need to work on using my hips in these throws”, said Brown. “Coach Roland explained that I need to transfer the force from the back to the front of the circle and that involves using my hips.”

Both Johnson and Brown talked about the value of viewing videotapes of both other athletes and themselves for training. Johnson said, “Aaron Brooks (Dematha) and I would videotape each other and use that to help us improve.” He continued, “Coach Roland is showing us videotape of throwers and breaking down each millisecond of the throw for us, so we understand what and why we need to change some things.”

Brown said, “Visualization of the throw is very important. You need to see in your head what you should be doing and then transfer that to the circle.”

Head University of Maryland coach Anthony Valmon believes that the camp serves two main purposes. “We’re teaching them to love the sport. We’re showing them the beauty behind what they are doing. We want these kids to leave here with a better appreciation for their event.”

The coach also believes that the camp is an outreach program to the Maryland track athletes. “We want to keep the Maryland athletes at home once they leave high school,” said Valmon. “We’re hoping that once the athletes see the campus and what the University of Maryland has to offer, that they keep College Park as one of their choices when deciding on a college.”

Valmon is careful to stay within NCAA regulations with the high school athletes. “We don’t bring the high school kids inside the Comcast Center, but make sure that they visit the neutral areas of campus when we bring them on tours.”

Anthony Walker, a senior on the team and ex-Eleanor Roosevelt star, was serving as the leader through the drills in the morning session summed up the camp experience for the counselors. “We’re influencing these kids to be not only good athletes, but good kids and more importantly good adults.” “The kids think they are learning from us, but we are learning just as much from them.” Walker finished his thoughts by saying, “Good times – good times.”