AHS will hold a sports camp consisting of games, competitions and drills for multiple sports such as football, basketball, baseball, volleyball and soccer.

The summer camp, taking place from June 26 to June 30, is designed for the skill development of future AHS students and is intended for rising third through ninth graders.

With the hardships faced by many sports this school year and with many student athletes participating in sports with limited prior experience, the camp looks to groom future athletes and improve their skill sets for sports they look to participate and compete in the future at AHS.
Coach Christopher Bagot, who is running the camp in its first year described his many different reasons for wanting to have it.

“One of the main purposes for the camp is that I want to expose kids to sports that they haven’t played before,” Bagot said.
The camp will also include current varsity players that will help in the competitions, games and expanding of the skill sets of campers in the number of different spots.

They will be expected to contribute to the various activites during the summer camp.

With the competitions and drills set to take place during the camp, this will provide an opportunity to increase the experience and competitiveness of the future student athletes.

Similarly last winter, Atoms baseball held a winter baseball camp for younger grade levels to help prepare the future student athletes for playing high school baseball by working on fielding, pitching and hitting skills.

“The baseball camp was great for us players because we got to help with bettering the skills of younger players,” junior Ryan Gammon said.
One of the hopes for the summer sports camp is to familiarize younger students with sports and to have them sign up earlier to participate in sports. Hopefully, this would increase participation in school sports in the future.

“As the baseball coach, I had about eight kids on the team this year that have never played baseball before,” Bagot said. “Now I can say maybe that kid that I find in third grade at this camp, I can get him signed up earlier so that he’ll be more familiar.”

Another purpose for the camp is to build a connection between different schools in the area.

“One thing that I want to do is build a relationship between the elementary schools, middle schools, feeder schools and Annandale High School,” Bagot said. “I want parents to be comfortable sending their kids to Annandale and the kids to be comfortable as well.”
The camp will also provide an opportunity to identify future students that could be potential athletes on different teams upon their arrival to AHS which will be beneficial in the long run.

“I want to start a system where there will be a seventh grade team and an eighth grade team,” Bagot said. “That way I can identify the kids a little bit earlier before they get to Annandale.”
Another factor in having the summer camp is provide a competitive and sports-oriented environment at an affordable price.

“We want to give a wholesome environment at a lower price and have a blast,” Bagot said.
The cost for the five day camp will be $125 for grades three through nine.

The summer camp will provide a great opportunity for lower grade levels to attend AHS in the future not only for the enjoyment aspect but for an opportunity to be exposed different sports, improve skills and engage in competitions.