Noozhawk’s ParentNooz Camp Guide is officially here and we made sure to make things easy when planning your child’s summer!
To give parents the tools to help make informed decisions about Summer Camps for their kids in Santa Barbara, Noozhawk has conducted a series of interviews with representatives of local programs for this year’s Summer Camp Guide.
In this interview, Noozhawk spoke with Gianni Bloom, Youth Camp and Clinic Organizer at UC Santa Barbara Baseball to learn more about the summer programs they are offering this year.
UC Santa Barbara Baseball
Question: What is the name and focus of your camp or program?
Answer: UCSB Baseball summer camp is all about creating a fun, safe, and exciting environment for kids to enjoy playing baseball and spending time with their peers. Our camp will feature a number of fun and instructional games, competitions, and activities that encourage the kids to be enthusiastic about the game and to enjoy themselves.
Q: How long have you been running the program? Do you have any professional accreditations or certifications?
A: This is my first year running all of the youth programs with the baseball team! I was a player and a Gaucho for three years before graduating and finishing my baseball playing career. Baseball has always been the activity that has brought me the most joy even when I was just starting at six years old. I aim to create fun and long lasting experiences that the kids and campers can remember joyfully!
Q: What goals will the participants be working on to achieve?
A: Campers will be developing skills through external games and cues such as crushing tennis balls through a set of cones in the middle of the field, or racing around the bases as fast as they can. While the environment we create will naturally foster skill development and growth, we most value creating a fun and riveting experience through the game of baseball – or at least through running around in the sun!
Q: How would you best describe the educational aspects of your program?
A: The game of baseball is a wonderful teacher. Kids will learn simple skill development such as how to catch, throw, hit, and field. Yet, they will also learn elements of healthy competition, teamwork, dealing with success, dealing with failure, and how to treat each other well through all of it. The environment is designed to teach the kids about baseball and all of these amazing elements that it contains, all of which starts with the campers having fun with their buddies and going for it!
Q: Describe the types of activities a child would participate in on a typical day.
A: On a typical day we will start all together with the rules of the day and trivia questions for prizes! After trivia we will break into multiple lines and do a quick warm up as a group, followed by a couple of games designed to get the body moving and the blood Flowing (Do This Do That, “Egg Toss”).
Before noon lunch we will work in a water break and play a few games such as pickle, tug of war, or relay race to name a few of the different options. After lunch we will do multiple defensive rotations as well as offensive rotations. Stations will be run by different camp counselors, many of which play baseball for the gauchos. Finally we finish up with a crowd favorite – Over The Line!
Q: What is the typical age range for your camps?
A: 7-13 is the general age range, but there are scenarios where outside of that age group makes sense as well! We are flexible and the parent of anyone outside of this age group that wants to participate should reach out to me to see if we can make it work!
Q: Do you offer full day and 1/2 day options?
A: We offer a full day option (9:00am-3:00pm) as well as a late pick up option for an additional cost at 5:00pm for any parents that may have work or other commitments during the regular pick up time.
Q: What is your policy regarding background checks and training for staff? What is the child to staff ratio?
A: All staff is checked and vetted to be hired through the university to work summer camps. It is our number one priority to make sure the campers are surrounded by safe, kind, and helpful people so that they can enjoy themselves at camp. All staff are trained before and given a detailed schedule for each day!
The ratio of campers to staff will vary, but we will have plenty so that each group is able to receive the proper attention and time to enjoy themselves, learn, and most importantly to do it all safely.
Q: What is the cost of your camp? Do you offer any scholarships?
A: The cost for one week of camp is $349.00, need based discount codes and plans are available and parents should feel free to contact me if they can not afford the full price.
Q: Is there anything you would like to share about your program that was not already mentioned above
A: We greatly value the community that we are immersed in and feel that summer camp is an awesome way to deepen that connection between our program and the local community.
We want the same kids that come to summer camp to come to our games, take the anthem with our players through baseball buddies, get autographs after the games, and to just enjoy spending time at the ballpark and building a love for the game! No matter what level of skill or passion for the game, we take great pride in providing a great experience for all kids that come to our ballpark.
Click here to learn more about UC Santa Barbara Baseball Camps!