News Scrapbook 1979

ASAN DIEGO BOOM

The Pros and Cons of Sports Camps BYSTEVE DOLAN, Times Staff Vriter . SAN DIEGO-The taxi cab pulled up near the couts at Point Loma College and Dennis Ralston stepped out, racquet in hand. It was an unexpected event for 32 youngsters at thERalston-Pasarell Tennis Camp last Monday. Ralston wasn't scheduled to come 1Dtil later in the week. While there, the tennis pro was greatly admired by the youths, each of whom received a period of individual instruction from I.Im. But after three hours at the camp, Ralston's time schedule forced him to leave. He has five other camps in Southern caur~ making it unlikely he could ~nd too much time at any one of them. Ralston did not return to the camp for the remander of the week, and Charles Pasarell did not appear either. Yet their nam.1 had lured many of the yoimgsters into enrollment. "We signed up for the Ralston-Pasarell camp," said I somewhat disappointed' Grant Marcon of Santa Maria. ''The brochure said Raston-Pasarell, and Ral- ston's only here one day, You expect him to be here fora week.'' Marcon is one of almost 10,000 youngsters who ha\!! attended sports camps this summer in San Diego, many of them coming fromother parts of the coun- try. For parents, it can be a costly proposition-from 100 to $315 for a five-

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(\ 28 - The Blade-Tribune USD Concerts To Feature Piano Sonatas SAN DIEGO - An in- novati\•e contt:rt series will be presented for the first time in S n Diego by the · D' o Fine t~ Dcpartmen school year. All 32 Beethoven piano sonatas will be played m a series of concerti al 4 p,m the third Sunday of every month from ptemb r through May in U D's Camino Theater r'ather Nicola p an! t, com~er, con- du •tor, Ilana Mysior, re- cognized pianist; and Michael Bahde, active uthem California perform- er, will play together at each concert on three grand pianos. The series will not foUow the chronological order of the sonatas, but each concert will represent sonatas from different periods of Beethoven's creative output. Tickets for individual concerts are $3.50 each or $1.50 for senior citizens, students, and military. To enjoy the full series, which Include Beethoven's birth· day party after the Dec. 16 concert, subscnptlon tickets re $25 or $10 di,counteil For tickets and information contact the Friends of Music at the University or San Diego, 29H480. There is ample parking on the campu. . I.& is on Linda~ Vista Road. L__ :

AUG l 6 1979

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day session, depending on the sport, on the facility being used and on liv- ing arra»gements. The camps are promoted by word of mouth, advertising in the mass me- dia and brochures at school. Many of them advertise a big-name athlete, who, although making only a brief appearaace, can influence youngsters to enroll and can also influence the, price of a camp by, in some cases, about 16 a week. Billy Casper is another athlete who lends hil name to a camp in San Die- go. The golfer made one of his ap- pearances at the camp by flying di- rectly to San Diego the same night after pitying in the final round of a recent PGA tournament. Some of the youngsters were three-week residents at Casper's camp, their parents having paid a $945 tuition. But if a youth saw Casp- er more than once a week, he was lucky. During the first three-week session, in July, Casper's schedule allowed him to be at the camp only three days. "It's the staff that does everything here." said Skip Storm, a two-week golf camper Crom Diablo. "He (Casp- er) just stops by here. I don't know why they call it his camp. He could stay here longer. That would be bet- ter." Dick Laventhol, co-owner of Sports World, an organization that sponsors most of the local camps, defends the policy of using "name" athletes, al- though they may appear at the camp for only a short time. "We don't say that a guy will be Please Turn to Page 4 1 Col. 1

SUMMER PLAY-Point Loma is the site for several summer sports camps around San Diego. Here, youths participate in vol- leyball and track. Basket- all is also popu ar. Tlmea otot by Lea Lahma

SAN DIEGO COUNTY B~SINESS -J- ee PART Ill t SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 1979

SAN DIEGO CLIPPING SERVICE EVENING TRIBUNE AUG 1 "/ 197.

, NEIL MORGAN

ros and Cons Of Sports C

I ild Etter said. "All or the stars told me it was hard. I * lloa.Augete:etV\me&-J- thought they justJjlayed basketbalL But they have to do a lot of jogging and stuff to get in shape." jority raised theit:, hands. Auerbach, the Boston Celtic executive, got the point l(:ross while visiting Upton's camp. When he asked how

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sat.: Aug. 18, ,s.79-Parl 111 9

"I know a lot of you think you can make 1t in pro ball." Auerbach said. "But if one kid in t ·s who e camp makes it

"You can learn the fundamentals here,'' he said. "On a many youngsters thought they could play pro ball, a ma- in pro ball, that would be phenomen . school team, a coach just wants you to do what you already•r-1'-------------=-="""''"""'_,______________________ can do. They don't go over everything." ,

Continued fro. 4th !'age "I've learn io muc.'I more here at camp," Rigg said. "Yoo learn about~s hete that you never knew about beforet A typi~ camp ichedule goes as follows: breakfast, 8 a~.; practice.9-11 a.m.; lunch at noon; practice, 2-4 p.111. (films are sonetinles shown before afternoon practice]• dinner, 5-6 p.n. an:I competitive games after dinner. ' What the yiungsters learn at camp are the foundametll- t~s of their pu1icular sport. The instructors normally di· vide the groq> into skill categories after a short time and work within ech athlete's limitations. Many of th! youngsters believe they learn more at cam~ than they doplaying on a school team or through priva~ lessons. '.'For. one hing, there are better instructors at camp,• said Lisa Vhealy, a golf enthllSiast from Huntingto~ Beach. "ThE instructors are always there to help you you mess w. I've dropped about five strokes since rv, been here. Ay game is getting there." One_reaSOl the pro~tive athletes feel they improve al camp 1s_ theamount of time they practice. Practice tim~ and factlltie are often limited in high schools because o! th~ latge nunber of male and female sports now offered. (schiol) teams, you don't have time to learn a lot," said Jan Bdlenbache, a volleyball player from Shennan Oaks. "Tearui take up m?St of their time with conditioning, At a camp, 1ou can zero m on things one day at a time." Etter, ofNashville, happened to be visiting relatives in San Diego Nhen he heard about Upton's basketball camp He quicklyenrolled. ·

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FINE l•'IX : Oceanographer Will Speidel was aboard a diesel sei mic urvey ve el in Los An- geles that was ht>aded for the new exploratory oil f1 Id off l'mnt Conception But the c.. p- taln cancel d th voyagi> be- caus he ouldn't buy enough fuel for the round trip ' It's a helluva commentary " Speidel concludes, "\\hen you can't get fuel enough to go out and look for more fuel" CITY CE1'E: On I.a Jolla's l\ estway Drive there's a new home, never occupied, that's up for sale for $300,000. That figures to he the a king price for the lot. The hou.-e is on a slab that's bowing a wide crack.. .. Brown & White Cab Co. hai; a flashy maroon cab around town, lo case that seems wo b noting to you. And the more I think about it the ' the ~ew York editor, popped into town Jong enough for dinner in Old Town, and a report on his meal on the tran continental jet: "Just bring me the Alpo," he'd told the flight attendants, and they'd giggled. ... The big blue sign SIN is an eye-catcher on Rosecrans . Slow down, and you'll note that it's Shelter Island . 'utrltion. • C

In addition to specialized camps, there are all-sports' camps. These expose the youths to as many sports as pos-1 sible, hoping they might find aparticular sport they likes. · One problem the organizers try to get away from isi parents who bring their youngsters to all-sports camps asl 1 a means of having a baby-sitter. "Some parents might think about the fact you have thel kid for a week,'' said .IISD:s Brovelli, organizer of an all- sports camp. "But mosf1j'"ring their kids here to expose' them to the programs. Some thought that the camp was 1 Just for free play all day. But we had to hand them a bro- chure and show them what the camp was all about." · Mia Holmberg of San Diego said the all-sports camp wast "real fun because you don't get bored at one thing. There's! more variety. We all can't wait until the next activity." * ~~ppiness w~•t express~ by all the youngsters. Mike; W1mck of San Diego felt he did not get his money's worth at Upton's basketball camp. . Winick will enter Patrick Henry High School this year I and he has hopes of playing on the school basketball team'., • He's not convinced that going to camp helped. ' "I talked to a lot of the coaches here and they were real good," he said. "But there was one misleading thing. The NBA stars came here and shot, but they really didn't help · you out individually. They didn't do drills with all of the guys and that's why I wanted to come. : "Darryl Dawkins came and dunked, and Lloyd Free shot with us. But I was disappointed that they didn't help ev- : eryone. You have to go up to them for help." Winick esti-; mated that 40% of the youths received individual instruc- 1 tion from the pros. I "I'm not so sure camps offer something that the kids ' aren't offered in high school," Brovelli, the coach, said. "In my basketball camp, I want them to know the basic fun- damentals: footwork, pivoting, passing, shooting. Basket- ball is a sport where the more you are exposed to it, the more you improve. Kids can be successful and make up for lack of talent by knowil)g the fundamentals." If there's one nusconception youngsters have at a camp, it's that they'll make it as a pro if they're better than aver- age. "I thought it was easy to be in the NBA " the 12-

ports Camps in San ·Diego Continued from First Page

Upton !pointed out that Murphy was once a scholarship 1 athlete in Auerbach's camp. Upton's camp of 100 youths included 60 who were on scholarship. The youngsters, grades 7-11, didn't have trouble decid- ing who taught them the most. A group of eight unani- mously said Murphy and Birdsong were the best instruc- : tors. · Upton said all the athletes showed up as promised. He i also was excited that Free and Dawkins had entertained , with a dunking contest, shortly after Dawkins had demon- : strated 17 ways to dunk. ' But some of the younsters there to learn frowned on the dunking. "Hey, we didn't get nothing out of that," said one of . them, 12-year-old Juan Etter of Nashville, Tenn. "We. 1 can't dunk." * Despite the differences of opinion over the use of pro athletes at some camps, the learning experience of the camp apparently gives most-youngsters a good reason to go. Almost all of the youths interviewed said they were satisfied with what they were taught. Lisa DePaula, 13, of Palm Springs, would someday like I to become a professional golfer. Palm Springs has an abun- dance of courses on which to play, but she has found it I Jacking in golf instructors for youngsters her age. That's why she has taken a different approach the past , three summers and attended the Casper camp for two · weeks. "In Palm Springs, there are no junior activities," DePau- la said. "There are a few good golf pros out there. They charge you a bundle. I'm personal friends with the instruc- tors there, but I know they aren't very good. I don't know · where they dig up instructors for this camp, but they are . good." Eric DeGroot was one of four tennis players at Righetti High School in Santa Maria who was unhappy with the coaching he received the past season. DeGroot and his three teammates decided to try the Ralston-Pasarell camp. "Because of Proposition 13, we had a coach that we had to teach how to play tennis," he said of his high school ex- ·I perience. "We came here to learn more about tennis." Matt Rigg, 15, of Honolulu, hopes to play volleyball in I college. He has two brothers who played for Pepperdine's NCAA championship team in 1978, one of whom now is in, 1 the professional International Volleyball Assn. I The younger Rigg was encouraged by his parents and brothers to attend Dunphy's volleyball camp. Dunphy coached Pepperdine's championship team. Please Turn to Page 9, Col. 1

'tffl!re all of the time, then only have him show part of the · e," Laventhol said. "When he's there, he gives each \>er an individual lesson." Yet, the practice of using the name of athletes also aws criticism from instructors at some camps. "This camp shouldn't be named what it is," said one in- ructor, who requested anonymity. "He (the pro athlete) mes for a short time and there are a lot of others doing ework." Each camp pays a nominal fee to instructors who for the ost part are area high school and college coaches. Most oaches are paid in the $200-300 range for a five-day ses- ·on, while pro athletes receive a sum in the thousands. Volleyball coach John Martin of the University of San iego said, "Just because a guy is a professional doesn't ean he's an instructor." According to vollebyall coach Marv Dunphy of Pepper- ine, who had his own camp in San Diego, there is a good ethod for parents to use when choosing a camp. "What a parent ought to do if they're interested is call he camp and ask for the names and biographies of the amp staff," Dunphy said "A lot of times, they'll tell you they have a great staff. But when you ask who's on it, they on't come through. "Another thing to consider is the ratio of players to in- tructors. That's really important if the kids are going to et individual instruction." Some coaches no longer seek athle'tes as. even special uests at their camp. "I had a parent phone about whether I was going to .have pros at my camp," said USD basketball coach Jim 13rovelli. "I told them we weren't going to have a pro, but I said we weren't against it. "There are some camps where the pro comes in for bout 10 minutes," Brovelli continued. "All over their bro- chure it will have said the pro was going to be there three days. We want ours to be instructional and to get away rom the autograph syndrome." By contrast, when Johnny Upton, a local 22-year-old :with connections in the National Basketball Assn., started is .own "Superstars" camp this summer, he decided to bring such big names from the sport as Calvin Murphy, Otis Birdsong, Darryl Dawkins, Lloyd Free and Red Auer- bach. "The kids emulate the players,'' Upton said. "A lot of times, a coach with a beer belly will tell the kid something and the kid will think the coach played in 1923. But when Calvin Murphy points to the rim, you'll believe him. The stars are there to be an example. It shows what an end product is."

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