Nike camp through the DC Breeze to bring exposure to Ultimate

Breeze fans did you know that the team is running a Nike sponsored Ultimate camp this summer?

There are camps being run all around the country this summer. The kids of the east coast are fortunate to have several opportunities to come out and learn the game from north to south. There are day and sleep away camps planned for New York, Connecticut, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Maryland.

The Breeze will be hosting High School students ages 13 to 18 at Bible College in Lanham, MD from June 24 to 28. The camp is part of the Breeze’s mission to expand the popularity of Ultimate while also trying to give back to their community. This time in the form of game skills.

Ultimate players from the DC Breeze, Truck Stop and George Mason University will be coaching kids on everything from the basic fundamentals of throwing to the ins and outs of the game. The staff plans to ensure the campers walk away with meaningful instruction and an improved playing ability, regardless of prior experience.

The Ultimate community has been seeing  a lot of promotion and publicity over the past year. Cloud Coverage believes though it is the Nike Camps that are going to have the largest impact on expanding the presence of Ultimate, especially in terms of number of players.

Online streams, professional leagues, broadcasting contracts and top 10 rankings are all huge advancements for a sport that for so long has been under the radar. However, by going out and providing in person education, training and organized opportunities to play; the ripple effects are bound to be huge. It is a grass root movement at its very essence, unless the camps are held on a turf field.

Kids may see a highlight on TV or hear a feature about their local pro team over the radio, but these things only provide an inch deep look into Ultimate. Camps put discs in their hands and cleats on their feet. Camps provide an environment focused on learning and comprehension, not competition or performance. Recreational leagues and club teams are good, but can be intimidating to a kid without a clue of what the game even is.

The numbers for the first year of camps may be low compared to the number of kids that turn out for soccer or basketball camps. This is still a huge improvement over how many kids were attending Nike Ultimate camps last year (0). The success of these camps now is going to play a huge impact in the kind of skill we will see in college, club and pro players 4, 5 or even 10 years from now. Who knows? Maybe in a few years we will have some star handler or cutter on the Breeze whose first serious take at Ultimate came from one of these camps.