The annual All Skills Camp at Northwest College sold out for all age levels, drawing in 120 athletes from 3 years old all the way through incoming high school seniors at Cabre Gym in early July. 

“This is actually the first year that we have sold out every session,” coach Scott Keister said. “Between our April camps and our spring league and all the stuff we did in the spring, we’re around 250 kids total. Which I love.”

He said most of the kids who have been through the gym have been younger, with Keister happy they are choosing to do the NWC camp with all of the options available.

“I like that the kids are in the gym doing something. I know there are lots of different options through the rec of lots of different sports and activities. Hopefully they are involved in those too, selfishly we like to see them doing volleyball,” Keister said.

He said having a balance and being involved in different sports is key early on for young kids, and they make the camp more affordable for younger kids in order to have as many participating as possible.

Keister said basically all of the youngest kids were local, while there were both local high school athletes along with attendees from Douglas, Encampment, Saratoga and as far as southern Utah.

He said the Trappers use the camp as a way to introduce kids to different things, helping find different ways to improve.

“In a camp setting you are not going to see them get a ton better,” Keister said. “We used it as a way to introduce things. The young kids that aren’t playing school ball or travel ball, we may be the only instruction they get … Those kids who are playing club, high school or middle school, they’re going to go play for their coaches and they’re going to have their own style of teaching.”

He said in those situations they tell kids to try something new, but when they return to their teams to listen to their coach and do whatever they ask.

“Don’t say ‘this isn’t what they taught us there,’” Keister said. “Just like I don’t want to hear it in our gym ‘this isn’t how my high school coach teaches it.’ We’re aware, we know that, and that’s OK. There’s lots of different styles out there so we’re getting them exposed to a few different ways.”

Throughout the week, Keister brought in a number of different Trapper players to help teach the camp, as he said learning through teaching is huge for his players before some of them even put on a Trapper uniform.

“I love it,” Keister said. “I learn a lot about them as athletes to see how they handle a kid that gives them a little attitude or handle a kid that doesn’t give a full effort. They start to see themselves in the campers and go ‘oh, I do that too.’ I’ve always been a big believer that coaching makes you a better player.”

He said that he gives the players some instruction, but it allows for him to see them on campus and for the players to hang out before the season begins.

“It eases them into being away full time from home. They’re gone for a week, then they go home for a couple weeks then they come back again rather than jumping in the deep end,” Keister said.

He said the main goal of the camp throughout the week is to ensure that the kids had fun.

“Our biggest goal is that they walk out of here having fun. Pure and simple, if they don’t learn a thing, OK, but we don’t ever want a kid to walk out of here saying that wasn’t fun and they hated being there,” Keister said. “It’s giving them an opportunity to be a part of something active, rather than sitting at home in front of a TV screen.”