BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — There is still time for parents to register their children for summer camps, with UAB and the University of Alabama hosting a variety of camps, covering sports to academics.
School officials said they want to open the door for the next generation to explore new ideas and interests.
In addition to their sports opportunities like wheelchair basketball, Riane Sullivan with the University of Alabama said she want to allow kids the option to explore a world of academic interests that could help them with their futures.
Sullivan, who serves as protection program manager, highlighted the Marillyn A. Hewson Cybersecurity Summer Camp for middle and high school students to take part in new science and technology.
There will be a fossil camp for younger kids to explore history in a creative and tangible way, and The Minerva Young Women’s Business Summer Program to help instill leadership skills for future careers.
Sullivan said their goal is to provide a full campus-life experience with something for everyone.
“It’s important for us to provide a safe and welcoming environment to our minors,” she said. “We want to provide any opportunity and any kind of idea that a child may have that they show interest in. We want to provide the opportunity for them to be involved in something on our campus.”
UAB men’s basketball is also hosting a boys’ basketball camp this summer. This is head coach Andy Kennedy’s first basketball camp since his return to UAB.
Camp director Joshua Lane said it would be a unifying experience for the kids in our community. Lane said boys 3rd through 12th grade will have the opportunity to work with blazer legends past and present.
Lane said they will focus on fundamentals like dribbling, passing, and shooting, helping some reach the next level, but also instilling a love for the game. Lane said they will also offer various games to keep it competitive and fun.
“The biggest emphasis on this is just fun, fun, fun,” Lane said. “You know, we have a couple core values that we live by- energy, focus and toughness. So hopefully over this four-day period were able to instill some of those characteristics in these kids and they can take it home and they can keep having the energy focus and toughness needed to succeed in life.”
Camp dates include June 13-16 and July 17-20. All campers will receive a free t-shirt and lunch is provided each day.
Registration starts May 12, and an early registration discount is available through June 1. All UAB employees will receive a camp discount.
Those taking the lead on the camps at the universities say these activities can be vehicles for life.
“We want to open the door to new ideas for kids that they may not have thought about like Cyber-security,” Sullivan said. “Like I said, that’s a brand-new thing for our society. So that’s something that kids may not know about.”
“It’s an awesome opportunity,” said Lane. “It helps build character. It takes up some time. It builds skills and it keeps you from doing and falling into all the other things that you could possibly fall into.”
For more information about University of Alabama camps and registration, you can click here.
Click here to register for the Andy Kennedy Basketball Camp. For more information on this camp you can call Joshua Lane at (205)224-3196.
