Summer Blast Color War Day Camp Pits Red Vs. White

07/18/2017 

A tradition will be rekindled at SUNY Cortland this summer.

The inaugural Summer Blast Color War Day Camp will pit two teams — red and white — against one another in a week-long series of activities, with points being accumulated along the way. 

“I had been wanting to start up a camp because I know how much the kids who come to our games love being at the venues,” said camp director Jaclyn Lawrence, SUNY Cortland’s assistant director of athletics. “I wanted to make an affordable camp for kids to come and enjoy our campus and our venues.”

Steven Axtell, the College’s men’s soccer head coach, also had dreamed of bringing such a camp to campus and worked with Lawrence to make this event possible.

The day camp is for children ages 7-13 and will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. from July 31 to August 3.

Campers will have access to nearly all of SUNY Cortland’s athletic facilities, both indoors and outdoors. Like the summer camps of old, a wide variety of challenges and logic games will be contested, including basketball, flag football, a scavenger hunt, whiffle ball derby and a three-legged race. The color war battle between the red and white teams will stress sportsmanship, camaraderie and fun.

Lawrence and Axtell hope to continue the camp in the years to come, offering local youths the opportunity to come back to SUNY Cortland and compete for their respective team — or at some point hand off the responsibilities to a younger sibling — for years to come.

The registration fee for the camp is $99. Lunch is available for campers each day for an additional fee. Extended drop-off and pick-up hours may also be arranged in addition to the base fee. Campers will be provided with a t-shirt and are encouraged to bring sneakers, sunscreen, a bathing suit and towel as well as a water bottle.

The camp will accept walk-up registrants but will only take cash payments for those who do not preregister. Credit card payments are accepted for those who wish to register online.

For more information on how to register, view the Summer Blast Color War Day Camp brochure online or contact the Summer Camps Office by email or by phone at 607-753-2739.