The Blog for Camp All-Star!

Popular in the United States and around the world, field hockey is a fun and challenging sport! Two teams of eleven players attempt to hit a small, plastic ball into a goal using a wooden stick. Each team has one goalkeeper, who is allowed to touch the ball with their body in the shooting circle. No other players are allowed to contact the ball except with their stick. If a player kicks the ball, possession is immediately awarded to the opposing team. There are other rules designed to promote safety and keep the flow of the game moving.

At Camp All-Star, we believe strongly in teaching the same values at camp that campers’ parents do at home.  During part of the 30-40 minutes of intensive sports instruction for each activity, coaches will relate one of our core values to the campers:  honesty, courage, kindness, dependability, unselfishness, and sportsmanship.  By instilling honesty, for example, children have the opportunity to call their own fouls in basketball.  By instilling unselfishness, campers must pass the ball three times before shooting the soccer ball.  We always show sportsmanship after each competitive intercamp game by making sure to genuinely shake the other player’s hand from the opposing team.

Volleyball is a sport enjoyed throughout the world by girls and boys, women and men, and people of all ages! Beach and indoor volleyball were among the most popular events at the 2012 London Olympics with loud and energetic crowds cheering their favorite teams. If you want to improve your volleyball skills this summer, look no further than volleyball camp at Camp All-Star in the beautiful Belgrade Lakes region of Maine!

An estimated 40 million American children participate in organized sports today.  We started Camp All-Star, a premier sports camp, 12 years ago for many reasons.  Research shows that children who participate in sports do better academically and are less likely to experiment with drugs.  At Camp All-Star, each day is filled with activities that support strong fit bodies and a healthy lifestyle.  Playing sports reinforces fundamental values.  At camp, we encourage and reward honesty, courage, leadership, compassion, respect, self-discipline, sportsmanship, dependability, courtesy, and kindness.  We want to provide our campers with the life skills to become leaders and believe in fostering an all-around growth experience.

If your summer street hockey pick-up games are lacking the competiveness and excitement that you get from a game on ice, you need to experience our hockey summer camps! The impressive 50,000 square foot Alfond Athletic Center hosts summer sports camps featuring ice hockey on our NHL size rink. Private locker rooms are used for campers to store all their ice hockey gear in a safe and convenient place! You'll feel just like a pro! While summer temperatures soar into the 80s and 90s or more around the country, our camp provides you the opportunity to continue your love of ice hockey during our summer sessions at  Camp All-Star

Parents have often suggested combining camp with some type of academic program.  Well, we listened!  Camp All-Star is happy to offer our campers All-Star Academics this summer which is an optional program taught by the faculty of the distinguished Kents Hill School. We are proud to take advantage of the experienced faculty at this prestigious boarding school on campus. Courses include SAT Prep, one-on-one Math Tutoring, one-on-one reading tutoring, SSAT, and ESL. All classes will take place on campus in our brand new, air-conditioned Learning Center during one of the camper’s scheduled activity periods.

At the end of May comes the next big tennis tournament: the French Open, held on the famed red-clay courts at Roland Garros in Paris, France. Perhaps no player has dominated clay courts like Spain's Rafael Nadal, who is currently ranked number 5 in the world and has won the French Open seven times, including the last three! Rafa, as he is known to tennis fans, can be seen hitting backhands and sliding to a stop on the red clay at Roland Garros, and it is a familiar sight to see him covered in red dust as he holds the winner's trophy at the end of the tournament.

Yesterday, my son came home and said, “Only 33 more days of school left!” After months of hitting the books, he was relieved to know that there was a light at the end of the high school tunnel. Seriously, that means summer starts in about a month’s time and summer camp is right around the corner. We can’t wait to start our 12th season of Camp All-Star in June, so…the countdown begins!

On April 16th, one of softball's great pitchers, Cat Osterman, announced her retirement at the end of the current National Pro Fastpitch season. Osterman played her college career at the University of Texas, leading the Longhorns to three appearances in the Women's College World Series. She was the three-time NCAA Player of the Year and is the only pitcher in NCAA history to average more than 2 strikeouts per inning!

Children experience many different activities throughout their childhood.  They have the opportunity to play all types of games, various sports, and participate in other enriching activities while growing up and discovering the world around them.  Over time, they find a knack for specific sports which eventually become their favorite.  However, children should not be stuck in just one or two of those “favorites” for the rest of their lives.  It is vital to allow children the chance to participate in new sports and try them out to see what else they enjoy and can excel in.