Monday, July 20, 2009

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Student athletes give back at COB's camp By DAHALIA SMITH ~ NG Sports Reporter ~ dahalia@nasguard.com: Developing well-rounded athletes at The College of The Bahamas (COB) Athletics Department's 1st Summer Sports Camp (June 29 - July 24 for children ages 8-14) is a priority for the institution, however, volunteerism is highly endorsed. Several COB students decided to volunteer their services this summer as assistant instructors at the camp, namely Devon Clarke (basketball), Audison Beaubrun (volleyball) and Danielle Denard (track and field). Clarke, who is expected to start COB this coming semester as an architecture major, is one of the basketball instructors. He is a seasoned player having competed on two junior national teams in the past. "We cover areas such as right and left hand dribbling skills up and down the entire length of the court, chest passes, bounce passes, lay-ups and jump shots. This is only the second day of the camp and just over that short period of time I've noticed improvements already. The children are already familiar with the routines and transitions from one discipline to the other is already running smoothly," noted the Grand Bahama Catholic High School graduate. Heading the volleyball discipline is COB educator, former volleyball national team player and coach Jennifer Dotson-Isaacs. She is assisted by COB freshman Audison Beaubrun. Dotson-Isaacs elaborated on the premise of the camp. "Particularly for the age group that we have, it is good being able to focus on various disciplines. They have the opportunity to become more well-rounded with the various sports. At the same time discipline is a life skill that children can learn through sports. Sporting competitions teaches children social skills, how to have respect for one another, and learn how to accept losing and winning," Dotson-Isaacs pointed out. Likewise, Beaubrun, an Electrical Engineering major, hopes to learn the same skills while working with the young campers. "I'd like to learn how to deal with different personalities because I don't know where my future career may take me once I graduate from COB. For instance, I am considering a career in Education so this is chance for me to see how I work with children. Our (COB student instructors) services are voluntary. It's still worth giving back during my summer break. If you don't do anything just for the love of it, you won't gain much from that particular experience," explained Beaubrun. COB's Assistant Athletics Director of Intramural Sports and Recreation Sean Bastian, is the head basketball instructor and Breto Storr and Dorran Moxey are the head swimming instructors. Throughout the four-week period, (Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.) different sporting disciplines will be focused on namely swimming, basketball, volleyball, track and field and tennis at COB's various sporting facilities. Registration is ongoing and the fee is $160. Applications are available at the Wellness Center. A limit of 150 children will be allowed to register for the camp, "because we want to be able to reach each child," said Bastian. Thursday, July 2, 2009