Baseball

Baseball Camp – Flying Squirrels & Jr. FUNNdamentals Camp
The Flying Squirrels offer three baseball camps throughout the 2015 season! Baseball Camps Sessions 1 and 2 are both three-day camps for boys & girls ages 7-14. Session 1 is held on June 23^rd, 24^th, & 25^th. Session 2 is held on August 4^th, 5^th, & 6^th. A Jr. Squirrels FUNNdamentals Camp is held on July 8^th & 9^th for boys & girls ages 4-8. All camps include instruction from current Flying Squirrels players and coaches, lunch each day, and 4 tickets to a Squirrels home game.  Megan Angstadt at 804-359-3866 x325 megan.angstadt@squirrelsbaseball.com

Basketball

Foundation Basketball Camp
Register early – sold out last year! Camps will be at ACTS Campus and Foundation Basketball West Campus.

Overtime Athletics Sports Camps
Offering 5 different camps this summer. Camps variety of sports and games including: basketball, flag football, floor hockey, tag games, scavenger hunts, capture the flag and more! Ages 6-12.

Rasheed Wright Basketball Camp
Overnight Basketball Camp and 1/2 day clinics for boys and girls ages 7-17.  Have fun and learn from Professional European Basketball player, Rasheed Wright!  Visit www.rasheedwrightbasketball.org for more information and registration!

Shaka Smart Basketball Camps
Our day camps provide a fun, safe environment for boys and girls entering grades three through 12 to improve their basketball skills, make new friends and get fit.

Spiders Boys Basketball
The campers learn the fundamentals from the coaches and see it translated into “on court” performance.

Spiders Girls Basketball
The 2015 Richmond Spiders Girls’ Basketball Summer Camp is excited about a new summer of learning, playing, and enjoying basketball.

Fencing

Richmond Fencing Club
Beginner, intermediate and advanced camps. Ages 9-18. 2014 information to come soon.

Football

Washington Redskins Flag Football Camps
Non-contact flag football instruction, scrimmages and FUN for boys and girls ages
6-13. www.RedskinsKidsCamps.com.

Golf

Bogeys Sports Park Junior Golf Camp
Summer Golf Camp for ages 6-13. Sessions from 8:30am-12:00pm Mon – Fri. Taught by PGA Pro Lynn Myers. $200/session. Snack and lunch included. Each camper receives a free pass to hit a bucket of balls OR play mini golf every day for the rest of the calendar year. Check website or call for dates.
804-784-1544

Robins Junior Golf Program Summer Camp at Independence Golf Club
Both Full and Half Day camps are offered. Full day camps also offer the option of boarding.

Gymnastics

Richmond Olympiad
(area locations Chesterfield Airport, Hanover, Innsbrook and Trade Road). Sessions and times may vary by location.

Twist Gymnastics
Twist Gymnastics offers ½ Day summer programs to girls age 6 and up.  Guaranteed to keep you fit and fill your mornings with fun!

Quest Summer Adventure Days!
Co-ed gymnastics centered classes taught by Safety Certified staff! Learn new skills, improve on existing ones, flexibility training, and strength training; all in a fast paced, safe and fun environment!

Lacrosse

Lacrosse Summer camps
The overnight camp at the University of Richmond and is open to all girls grades 8-12. Overnight and commuters welcome.

Martial Arts

Dynamic Taekwondo
Rising 1st through rising 7th graders. Age appropriate games, crafts, sports field trips and educational activities.

Martial Arts World
Have a kickin’ summer camp with Martial Arts World! Our program has been serving Henrico County for over 19 years and whether campers are spending the day swimming, knocking down pins at a bowling alley, rock climbing, or working on their latest martial arts skill, you can be sure your child will have a great experience in a positive safe environment.  Our camps are focused on good constructive fun, coupled with awesome exercise!   They will have a blast while building character, self-discipline, and increasing self-esteem.  Most importantly, they will develop a “Yes I can” positive attitude!  We call our camp an adventure camp, because your child will get to experience so many things during their summer with us, in addition to martial arts! Camp is $189 for 1-5 weeks, $169 for 6+ weeks, which includes all field trips and activities.  Camp is from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. but we provide extended care from 7:15 am and ending at 6:00 p.m. at no additional cost. Early bird discount of 10% off till March 31^st!  Click HERE to register, or call 804 673-5200.

Master Cho’s Tae Kwon Do Summer Camp
It is a full day camp, from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm with extended care available. Children ages 5 – 12 will participate in Tae Kwon Do classes, craft projects, rock climbing, field trips, character building activities and more! Master Cho’s Tae Kwon Do offers a safety-oriented, enriching environment through the professional staff and state of the art facilities that make our school home.

Master Yi’s Taekwondo and Martial Arts
Give your Summer a Real Kick at Master Yi’s Taekwondo! Half/Full Day/Extended Care Children 4-12
More details: 804-915-7033 – Short Pump 804-918-2470 – N Chesterfield masteryimanager@gmail.com – Email

Mountain Tae Kwon Do Kickin’ Kids Summer Camp
A typical day will be filled with sports, arts & crafts, field trips, games, and professional martial arts instruction. Our program offers parents flexible hours: drop off times begin bright and early at 7:30am and pick up times run until 6:30 pm. Both full and half day programs are available, and we offer camps virtually all summer long!

Taekwondo Works and School of Dance Arts will have combined all day Summer camps.

Outdoor

Blue Sky Fund’s Outdoor Leadership Institute
A two week leadership program for current 8th, 9th, and 10th graders from all backgrounds. The youth will get to experience a 5 day backpacking trip and learn how to serve their community better. For more information, please check out our website at www.blueskyfund.org.

Boy Scouts of America
Scouts participate in camping, swimming, boating, fishing, adventure programs, field sports, handicrafts, and lots of camping fun. 801 Hopeman Parkway, P.O. Box 813, Waynesboro, VA 22980, 540-943-6675.

Camp Friendship
Registration is OPEN. One and two-week sessions for boys and girls ages 6-16. Facilities offer a lake, swimming pool, gym, tennis courts, stables and horse riding, archery, golf, ropes courses.

Passages Adventure Camp
Kayaking, rock climbing, rappelling, wilderness survival, zip-lining, and mountain biking. OPEN and on-going registration until the camps are filled. Boys & Girls; ages 5-17; 1/2 and full day sessions – June 10 to August 23.

Virginia Fishing Adventures Camps 
Registration is OPEN.  Ages 6 – 14.   We have several new offerings to add to our fishing and mountain bike camps this summer in Richmond, including fly fishing day camps, fish and bike camps, as well as an expanded overnight fly fishing camp. We hope you will also take the time to check out our fishing/eco-service camps.

Virginia Outside Camps
We have several new offerings to add to our fishing and mountain bike camps this summer in Richmond, including fly fishing day camps, fish and bike camps, as well as an expanded overnight fly fishing camp. We hope you will also take the time to check out our fishing/eco-service camps. We hope that our new online registration system will make things easier for everyone.

YMCA Camp Thunderbird Outdoor Camp. YMCA campers enjoy swimming, basketball, athletic fields, hiking, pony rides, fishing, canoeing, music, drama, archery, two zip lines, arts-and-crafts, a petting farm and so much more. We provide FREE bus stops at multiple locations throughout Greater Richmond area. The YMCA is open to all, offering financial assistance to those who qualify.

Racing

Camp Motorsport
Registration is OPEN. Hands-on driving education at a real racetrack, as well as the fun of a traditional summer camp! Ages 9 – 16. Age level teams.

G-Force Karts
Looking for a high-octane summer camp experience for ages 8 and up? G Force Karts Summer Camp is the place to be! Indoor Go-Kart racing! Paintball! Laser Tag! And more!
Drop off 8am, pick up 5pm. $450 a week per child. Lunch and snacks included along with drinks all day. (We are conscious of children’s dietary needs and can accommodate special requests or needs.) Learn more about G-Force Camps here.

Soccer

Richmond Kickers
Registration is OPEN.

Richmond Strikers
Registration coming soon. Ages 6 – 13.

SCOR Summer Camps
Registration OPEN.

Swimming

Greater Richmond Aquatics Partnership
Located at the Collegiate School Aquatics Center. Learn to Swim Program which ensures that all children completing the second grade know how to swim in collaboration with the YMCA, water polo, scuba & snorkeling, adaptive swim classes and competitive swimming.

Tennis

Tennis Camp – Making of  a Champion Camps
This camp provides a wonderful learning experience for beginner to intermediate tennis players. Learn the game in a non-pressured, supportive atmosphere through fun-filled and proven teaching techniques. Emphasis will be placed on age-appropriate skills and helping campers develop a life-long enjoyment of tennis.

Track and Field

Richmond Spiders Track & Field Camp
Boys and Girls that will be attending 7th grade through 12th grade are welcome to attend this camp. If you are younger please call with inquiries.Campers will choose a primary and secondary event to learn the latest training and competition techniques. Coaches, guest speakers and staff will provide the athletes with the knowledge and skills to improve their performance.

Volleyball

Richmond Volleyball Club
Dates and times vary by program. Ages 8 – 19.

Wrestling

Trinity Episcopal School Wrestling Camp
Trinity Summer Wrestling Camp 2014 – 6th through 12th graders, all skill levels, no experience necessary.

More Active Camps for Active Kids

Midlothian Athletic Club (MAC)
Midlothian Athletic Club offers an All Sports Summer Camp for children ages 5-13. All Sports Summer Camp keeps children active and engaged through various team sports and team building activities. We are happy to partner with The First Tee of Richmond & Chesterfield for ten weeks this summer in order to introduce golf to our campers as well.  In addition to sports,  All Sports Summer Camp offers time each day to explore science, arts & crafts or a creative thinking activity.  Our Full Day campers will end the day with time and plenty of fun at our outdoor water park.

We offer full day and half day options, as well as extended day for parents who need an early drop-off and/or late pick-up. Please visit our website for further details or call 330-2222 (ext. 304).

Overtime Athletics Sports Camps
Offering 5 different camps this summer. Camps variety of sports and games including: basketball, flag football, floor hockey, tag games, scavenger hunts, capture the flag and more! Ages 6-12.

Sailing Camp at Fishing Bay Yacht Club, Deltaville, Virginia
Learn to sail in a safe and fun environment while making friends! Severalcamps/classes available, from beginner to advanced, ages 5 to 18. Open to non-members. Come and join the fun!

SkateNation Plus
Learn to SK8. The SkateNation Plus Learn to Sk8 Camp is an introductory camp for beginner to intermediate skaters ages 5-12. Students will learn the fundamentals of ice skating using a variety of instructional programs that encourage participation at the recreational level. Snacks and Lunch are included in the full day camp.

Sky Zone Richmond
SkyCamp combines fun and fitness for pure happiness! Get five half days of instructor-led activities, age-appropriate SkyRobics, open jumping and Ultimate Dodgeball. Find details and how to register for the next SkyCamp on our website. Have fun, make new friends and start flying!

Summer Experience is a six week camp held on the beautiful campus of St. Christopher’s School! Join us for one week, six weeks or anywhere in between. Each week will be exciting and different! Learn more about them at this link. Come join us for activities and instruction in swimming, tennis, music, arts and crafts, computer, playground, soccer, basketball, indoor and outdoor games, bowling, and more. We’ll play games, meet new friends, learn new skills, and play more games…and that’s just the first day!

University of Richmond sports and summer camps
Baseball, swimming, lacrosse, basketball, hockey, football, golf, and much more.

Uptown Alley Summer Camp Package
Uptown Alley is offering three different party options with our all NEW Summer Camp Package for 2015,starting at just $10.99 a child!  We have 38 state-of-the-art bowling lanes, over 60 video and prize games, and private party rooms to give you the ultimate experience for FUN this Summer!  Visit our website or call Group Sales at 744-1146 for more details.

U-Turn Sports Performance Academy
Basketball, soccer, and much more – including Christian teaching and mentoring kids in every aspect of life.
Richmondmom has a great list of sports, outdoor and adventure camps for active kids in and around Richmond, VA! Find the perfect summer camp for your kid at Richmondmom.com.

They say it’s best to wait until your kids are around 4 years old before you consider swim lessons. I waited until my kids were 5 just to be safe, but at that age – they were going to learn to swim, and they would take swimming lessons. It was mandatory for their safety, and my peace of mind, for a number of reasons.

A skill for a lifetime. We went to a pool party one time, and I saw a teenage boy sitting off to the side, watching the other kids splashing around in the water. He looked pretty miserable. I went and asked him why he wasn’t in the water. “I don’t know how to swim” was his reply, and I’ll never forget the anguish on his face as he said it. I never wanted my kids to go through that, so I made sure they had swimming lessons. We go to the beach on vacations regularly, have a home swimming pool, and the kids love to head with their friends to the community pool. Water is everywhere in their world, and I wanted them to be able to enjoy it safely.

Confidence around the water. If a child knows how to swim, they can’t help but feel more confident being around the water. Sitting by the side of the pool, looking at that body of water, and knowing that if you fell in, you couldn’t save yourself – that must be a terrible feeling. Water will come in to the equation so many times over a lifetime – whether it’s at the beach, the lake, or the family swimming pool, that being confident in those settings will be greatly enhanced by knowing how to swim.

It’s all about safety. In my research for PoolCenter.com, I read an article that said clearly – “formal swimming lessons can prevent young children from drowning.” That’s about as clear as it can get – to let my kids go around the water, I wanted them to have the skills to be safe. The article also said that drowning is the second highest cause of death involving children between the ages of one and fourteen – that’s a pretty startling statistic. In my mind, the safety of the child is one of the most compelling reasons for enrolling my kids in swimming lessons.

Better taught by a professional. I’m a great swimmer – my husband Ed used to come watch me in college (of course he was my boyfriend then) when I swam competitively, and he agrees that I swim really well. But just because you’re proficient at something doesn’t make you an instructor of that skill. Just because you read well, that doesn’t make you an English teacher. So when it came to swimming lessons, I wanted a swim instructor who was certified to teach my kids – so they would learn the proper way to use swim strokes, learn swimming safety, and build their confidence around the water.

My kids will retain it better when taught by a swim instructor. With some things, kids will listen to Mom. But for the extended time needed to teach them how to swim, the chances are that they will “get it” better if taught by someone else. At the pool, the lifeguards have enormous influence and power – the kids all know to pay attention – the lifeguard has the power to pull them out of the pool. It’s similar with the swim instructor – they are usually young, so the kids can relate to them. As well, having that professional knowledge, they carry themselves with confidence – and the kids pick up on that, and will pay better attention. I went and watched some swimming lessons with the instructors we would use. before my kids went to the class, and I watched the dynamic. It was amazing how well the kids minded. I just wished I could hire one of those instructors when it was time for them to clean their rooms.

Too important to “do it yourself.” For all the reasons above, my kids knowing how to swim properly, and take care of themselves at the pool, is just too important for me to try to “wing it” and show them how to swim. We’re talking about a lifetime of being around the water, combined with the safety of my children. Mandatory swimming lessons were just a “no brainer” for me.

About the Author

Becky Flanigan was an English major in college, and now uses those skills when writing freelance articles for PoolCenter. Becky enjoys spending time and travelling with her husband, 3 kids, and 2 golden retrievers. She spends many happy hours at the family swimming pool, watching the kids and dogs splash and play.  She is also an avid gardener – and even helps friends landscape and decorate their yards.

Veronica Stewart, a Girl Scout of 10 years and an advocate for water safety and drowning prevention, knows more about drowning prevention than most adults! Veronica is working on her Gold Award project and her focus is educating people about drowning prevention. She has spent hundreds of hours collecting data, researching, and gathering information to support her project.

The Girl Scout Gold Award represents the highest achievement in Girl Scouting. Open only to girls in high school, this prestigious award challenges girls to change the world—or at least a small corner of it.

The Problem

Veronica has identified water safety as a major issue – and while kids are out of school and enjoying plenty of water fun right now, it’s also a time to learn more about water safety.

According to Veronica’s resources:

• Seventy percent of African-American and sixty percent of Hispanic/Latino children cannot swim. (Source: National research study by the USA Swimming Foundation and the University of Memphis)
• African-American children drown at a rate nearly three times higher than their Caucasian peers. (Source: CDC)
• If a parent does not know how to swim, there is only a 13 percent chance that a child in that household will learn how to swim. (Source: National research study by the USA Swimming Foundation and the University of Memphis)
• Drowning is a leading cause of death among children, including infants and toddlers (HealthyChildren.org)

Who is Most at Risk?

• Males: Nearly 80% of people who die from drowning are male.
• Children: Children ages 1 to 4 have the highest drowning rates.
• In 2007, among children 1 to 4 years old who died from an unintentional injury, almost 30% died from drowning.
• Fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years. (When a child is rescued before death, the episode is called a nonfatal drowning)

Visit Veronica and Help Spread the Word

Veronica has developed a Facebook page of water safety websites and statistics devoted to drowning prevention to educate children and their parents. You’ll find lots of resources about AED, CPR, swimming lessons, safety gear, and more. It’s a wealth of valuable information!

You can also learn more about her project to educate everyone on water safety in the Henrico Monthly.

Veronica has set up collection bins for swimsuits and swim gear such as goggles, swimsuits, towels, nose plugs, and swim caps at:

• Wellesley pool (3601 Lauderdale Drive, Richmond VA 23233)
• NOVA Swimming
• The Virginia Swim Shop
• 3Sports

Please visit Veronica’s Facebook page and help her spread the word on water safety. Congratulations to her for taking this important step to educate the public as a part of her Girl Scout Gold Award project!

Richmondmom.com thinks Veronica ROCKS!