University of Arkansas at Fort Smith to hold mutiple summer band, athletics camps

FORT SMITH — The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith is hosting various sports and music camps for multiple age groups this summer.

The university during June, July and August will have opportunities for students from kindergarten to 12th grade to participate in athletics and music-focused camps including sessions led by faculty, staff and coaches, according to the university’s website.

Camp types include volleyball, band, and jazz and rock. Camp registration links can be found on the university’s website.

All youth camps are open to boys and girls, the website states. The camps vary in price, and discounts for university faculty and staff and military veterans may be available.

“The camp is designed around the introduction and development of young kids who like to play basketball,” the school’s head men’s basketball coach Zane Gibson said about the men’s basketball camps.

There will be five separate boys basketball camps for grades kindergarten to eighth grade, all priced at $69, according to the website.

Campers will learn the basics of dribbling, passing, shooting and defense and compete in games of one-on-one, three-on-three and five-on-five. Competition winners will receive prizes.

Campers will have fun while learning, Gibson said. “Everything we will do will be basketball oriented with a splash of fun involved,” he said.

Numbers have grown over the past two years of camps and youth who attended have learned how to better their skills, Gibson said. He said the camp gives the university another avenue to allow the community to come to the campus to see how beautiful it is and experience the great things staff would love for River Valley residents to take interest in.

All boys basketball camps will be 9 a.m. to noon and held on the following dates: June 9 to 11; June 16 to 18; July 7 to 9; July 14 to 16; and July 21 to 23.

“I hope our campers take away that the game of basketball is fun,” Gibson said.

Camp counselors will include UAFS men’s basketball players, whom campers can watch play during basketball season, Gibson said.

The university’s website states it will have three types of volleyball camps: Positional, Little Lions and College Prospect.

The Positional camp for sixth- to 12th-graders will be broken into position-specific sessions over the three days of June 2-4, according to the website. Campers can receive instruction on attacking and blocking June 2; setting on June 3; and serving, passing and playing defense June 4. The camp will be held 4-6 p.m. all three days and sessions are $54.

Campers can receive a discount if they register for multiple sessions in the same transaction — $2o off for two sessions and $30 off for all three, the website states.

The Little Lions camp for kindergartners to sixth graders will be 1-3 p.m. each day June 9-11. Campers will be introduced to volleyball and learn its fundamentals. The cost is $64.

The volleyball College Prospect camp June 11-13 will be for seventh- to 12th-graders interested in playing at the college level, the website states. Campers will have an option to stay overnight in the college dorms or attend for the day.

The price for overnight campers will be $291.50 for two nights and four meals. The price for day campers will be $238.50; day campers will receive two meals.

There will be two types of girls basketball camps, according to the website. There will be separate team camps for teams with players in ninth to 12th grades held June 5-6, and June 16-17 in which teams will compete in scheduled games.

Cost per game will be $106 for teams and times for the camps will vary by game schedule, the website states.

Two separate elite camps for ninth to 12th grades will be held June 14 and Aug. 9, and will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Campers will receive collegiate-level basketball instruction from college coaches and players, the website states. The elite camps cost $54 to attend.

Instruction for campers includes team defensive and offensive concepts, along with individual skill development.

The university will also hold a band camp and a jazz and rock camp.

A band camp for sixth- to eighth-graders will be June 9-13 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. All instruction will be led by UAFS music faculty and guest instructors, according to the website. The band camp’s final concert June 13 will be at 6 p.m. in Breedlove Auditorium. Cost is $185 per student.

The jazz and rock camp for eighth- to 12th-graders will be June 17-20 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. According to the website, campers will play in jazz, pop and Latin combinations and big bands. Campers will also take improvisation and songwriting classes and participate in “The Real World” jazz workshop. The jazz and rock camp’s final concert June 20 will be at 6 p.m. in Breedlove Auditorium. Cost to attend is $165 per camper.

Athletics camps will be at the Stubblefield Center at 5600 Kinkead Ave.; band camps will be at Breedlove Auditorium at 5210 Grand Ave.