"Keep it Moving with Character" a Success
7/3/2012 12:00:00 AM
Last Thursday, Liberty's Academic Affairs for Athletics' Student-Athlete Development and Dream Again Life concluded a four-day camp at Lynchburg City Schools' R.S. Payne Elementary School. "Keep it Moving with Character" aimed to help kids stay active during the summer, develop both physical and social skills and set goals in life.
Each of the four days, approximately 40 students were led by Liberty's Academic Affairs for Athletics staff and a number of Liberty student-athletes. Liberty football special teams coordinator Mike Minter served as a featured speaker, while student-athletes and staff assisted with instruction of various skills.
Prior to the camp, Liberty assistant track & field coach and camp director Andrew "Pete" McFadden instructed the volunteers to treat the camp as a life-changing event for the participating students, hoping it would be something they would look back on with a very positive experience.
"The biggest thing we want to be working on throughout is building character at every station," stated McFadden. "Kids love sports, so we'll show them how to build character through sports—how to work together, how to be a team player, how to work through adversity."
After three days of revolving to different skills workstations—which included football, basketball, track, laptop and goal setting, to name a few—the final day was a celebration of the week with a carnival theme. The week-end event provided a time to play games before participants were honored with special awards at camp's end.
The event was supported through funds raised at last fall's Volleyball-A-Thon, which was put on for Liberty students by Liberty Academic Affairs for Athletics and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (S.A.A.C.). In just its second year, the Volleyball-A-Thon attracted 44 teams and raised over $3,000, which helped provide t-shirts and backpacks for all of last week's camp attendees.
