Cosumnes River College will host multiple sports camps throughout the summer from June 6 through July 29. The summer sports camps will feature basketball, swimming, volleyball and tennis for a variety of ages.

There will be four swimming sessions open to all ages throughout the summer. The first swim session will take place from June 6-17, the second session from June 20-July 1, the third session from July 5 to 15 and the fourth from July 18-29.

“Yes, we are open to all children in the area. We welcome all ages, abilities and levels,” said CRC Summer Swim Director and CRC women’s swim head coach Liz Abrams. “We even offer beginning adult classes too.”

The swim camp offers children an opportunity to get in the pool and not only improve as swimmers, but foster relationships with their instructors while also learning about water safety.

“We offer an opportunity for children to learn water-safety skills, we improve their swimming abilities and develop wonderful relationships with the camp instructors and staff,” Abrams said. “We even offer water sports classes which introduces kids to the game of water polo.”

Abrams said the progam has been successful because she sees many young swimmers come back, which allows the staff a chance to get to know families and see kids they are teaching grow.

“I’ve seen many kids grow up through this program, and their siblings as well,” Abrams said. “We get to know the parents and families throughout the whole summer and it’s a great reward to see them grow each session.”

Swimming sessions will run Monday through Friday with 30-minute private and group lessons. A two-week group session will cost $67 per swimmer, while a two-week private lesson costs $120 per swimmer.

CRC will also host a basketball camp from July 4-8 for boys and girls from ages 7 to 16.

The camp, which will run from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., gives kids the opportunity to have fun and learn from current and former players who will help them throughout the camp.

The five-day camp costs $110 per player, but any additional siblings that attend cost $55.

“We have our current and former players coach the children so they have a mentor they can look up to,” said CRC women’s basketball coach Coral Sage. “The ‘coaches’ also do camp chats and get a chance to talk to the kids about what it’s like to play college ball. The kids seem to love that part just as much.”

Sage ran the camp last year and said there was a lot of positive responses. Many who participated last year are excited for this year’s basketball camp.

“We got wonderful feedback last year after the camp was over,” Sage said. “I was even getting emails in March asking about when camp sign ups were because the kids wanted to come back.”

While it provides a great experience and learning opportunity for everyone involved, Sage said it has also helped her grow as a coach and made her enjoy the game more.

“It helps me to remember why I started playing and even coaching basketball,” Sage said. “[It] gets back to the love of the game and the innocence of it. It even helps me be more patient when coaching my college team.”

The volleyball team will run its camp from July 11-15 with two different sessions running Monday through Friday in the Community and Athletic Center 100 gymnasium.

The first session is offered for beginners and will take place from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., followed by the second session, for intermediate to advanced participants, which will go from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Women’s volleyball coach Cassie Baxter, who is running CRC’s volleyball camp for the third summer, is excited about the different learning aspects and opportunities the camp will provide for both inexperienced and experienced players.

“The positive aspects are working in small group settings with current CRC volleyball student-athletes and nonstop physical activity,” said Baxter. “At the end of every day, there is an opportunity to be nominated for the best hustle and best attitude award of the day per small group.“

Baxter has 20 years of volleyball experience on her resume and she uses it to put young campers in the best position to succeed, no matter how old they are or their level of experience.

“I feel as though my experience allows me to relate to all levels of volleyball athletes,” Baxter said. “I love inspiring the beginner level volleyball athletes to continue to pursue the sport as well as encourage current players to enhance their skills and improve their overall level of play.”

Like the basketball camp, it will cost $110 per camper and $55 for additional siblings who want to participate. The co-ed camp is open to anyone between the ages of 9-18.

Men’s and women’s tennis coach Brandon Ellis will be hosting his first tennis camp at CRC after finishing his first season as the head coach.

The camp will run from July 11-15 and is open to boys and girls 4-17 years old.

Ellis said he looks forward to working with the kids and helping instill the same passion he has for the game while helping them learn tennis skills on their way to becoming better players.

“My best quality as an instructor is my own enthusiasm for tennis. I want to instill in our younger generation a love for the game, that is what propels people to achieve,” Ellis said. “Learning how much fun it can be to play tennis is the first step in becoming a good player.”

There are many benefits for participants, but instructors also learn a lot from the experience of working with young campers.

“Teaching kids tennis is great for instructors because we get the opportunity to help young people develop skills that can help them for a lifetime,” Ellis said.

The camp will take place at CRC’s tennis courts from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. each day. For an individual player, it will cost $110 and $55 for each additional sibling after them.

Overall, CRC’s summer sports camps will provide great opportunities for a variety of participants who will get the chance to have new experience, improve their own abilities, learn new things and have fun all at the same time.