Published: August 9, 2013
A pair of annual high school sports camps starting Sunday in Bavaria will offer student-athletes one last late-summer opportunity to hone their skills for the fast-approaching DODDS-Europe fall season.
On the gridiron, Ansbach High School and Cougars football coach Marcus George will host the Central European Football Camp, a rigorous four-day session running Sunday through Wednesday. The camp has grown steadily since its founding in 1987. George said he expects close to 300 players from 22 teams to attend this year under the tutelage of more than 30 coaches and instructors from DODDS-Europe, local German teams and skills-development organization Football University, including former NFL players Cecil Martin, Chad Carpenter and Gary Cobb.
Down the road in Vilseck, Falcons volleyball coach Brian Swenty will welcome a record roster of 225 high-schoolers to the fourth edition of the Asia Continental Europe Volleyball Camp. The marathon event lasts Sunday through Friday, with a roster of USA volleyball, DODDS-Europe and Armed Forces instructors including 2008 U.S. gold medalist Riley Salmon.
In recent years, the concurrent camps have become the de facto start of the DODDS-Europe sports calendar. The 2013 fall regular season, including football, volleyball, cross country, golf and tennis, is slated to begin the weekend of Sept. 7.