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By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

On some day in the middle of May each year from 2009-2017, a kid sat in a classroom talking with his friends, all of whom were waiting for the bell to ring. They all awaited this sound each day, but on this particular afternoon of the year, it signified an exciting event—the start of summer vacation.

Yes, like many kids, summer was what I awaited. It meant getting time to go on fun vacations with my family, hanging out with my friends outside of a school setting, resting and most importantly for me, doing something with sports.

Sports has been my entire life, and as an “athlete” growing up, I was always involved in something, whether it be as a player or a spectator. So in the offseason, when I was not playing baseball in the summer, I was participating in summer camps, hoping to get better and achieve every child’s lifelong dream of making it to the big leagues.

Improving at my craft was my main motivator for attending these weeks of physical activity each year. However, looking back on it, especially considering I never lived out that dream of becoming a professional athlete, what did those camps do for me?

Despite baseball being my main sport, most of my camp experiences stemmed on the basketball court. Many years, I spent a week each summer at Asbury United Methodist Church attending a basketball camp hosted by one of my favorite teachers, Allen McGowan.

Stepping onto the hardwood, I was in my niche, especially when having my friends there with me. We learned to improve in our dribbling skills, passing skills and shooting skills, all leading up to our performance showcase at the end of it all.

One of my favorite parts though was participating in a competition of “Hot Shot,” where throughout the week we had to shoot from different spots of the key that were worth different point values, all while trying to beat the score set by the master, which was one of the older kids acting as a coach.

I can’t lie, it was my favorite because I was good at it, and I won the Hot Shot competition out of all the campers each year I was there. In all seriousness though, it, like every sports camp I ever participated in, taught valuable life lessons.

Like I mentioned earlier, I never grew up to be a high school or college athlete, but that never deterred me from carrying on my passion for athletics, which is why I am writing this column today.

Summer sports camps taught me first and foremost how to have fun and enjoy my surroundings. I made memories with my friends at those camps and that is what made summer enjoyable. Yes, they didn’t always cater to the competitive spirit that I have always held high, but they showed me how to cherish the games I knew and loved.

They taught me how to work under pressure, a lesson that certainly helps me today. Playing that Hot Shot game taught me to feel a time crunch, and many times in life, you will have to get something done in a limited amount of time, something I certainly experience in this job.

You also learn about failure. I know that is a hard statement to read, but with the process of learning comes failing many times, and in order to be successful, all of us have to fail at some point. I did not always get the skills the first time around, or the second or third, but I learned with each rep, got better a persevered.

Finally, they taught me how to be coached. Each day, you are going to have to hear from someone higher up than you, and if you want to make your mark, you need to listen and embrace what the adults tell you. Those people high up have made it and they got that far from allowing themselves to be a student of their craft. After coming to that conclusion, my eyes were opened to a new realm of life.

So parents, or even kids if you’re reading this, if you are going to attend a summer camp or send your child to one, think about these facets of the week-long adventure you will set off on. Allen Iverson once famously said, “We talkin’ about practice! Not a game! Not a game! Not a game! We talkin’ about practice!” I’ll mold that phrase to tell you I’m not saying we’re going to these camps just to practice for the games we love, but we also go to practice for a much longer game, and a fun one at that—a game called life.