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Improving their athletic skills, building their Christian faith, and shining as young musicians, more than 6,000 kids will soon travel to Mississippi College for a marathon of summer camps.
Transported to the Clinton campus via yellow school buses and church vans, they’re coming here from 17 states – from Southeastern states to the Midwest.
The first wave of guests arrives May 31 when 150 to 200 high school student-athletes step up their game at MC Choctaws football camp. Choctaws head coach John Bland and staff will again team with coaches from the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns to instruct players that Tuesday at Robinson-Hale Stadium.
From focusing on the arts, sports, and church camps, “we are still one of the largest in terms of the numbers,” says Mississippi College continuing education director Ken Gilliam. “Once the kids arrive on campus, hopefully they will have a good experience and want to come back.”
Gilliam oversees summer camps at the Baptist-affiliated university, primarily from early June through late July. Challenges are a little greater now with the A.E. Wood Coliseum closed due to a $2.7 million renovation project. MC campers will utilize the Baptist Healthplex, the gym at First Baptist Church Clinton, facilities at Clinton High, and Alumni Gym on the Clinton campus.
Prices are affordable, and can range from $240 for basketball camp to $450 for a five-day residential camp sponsored by the MC Music Department, Gilliam says.
Whether it’s cheerleaders here starting June 6, Lady Choctaws hoops team camp June 9-11, music camp beginning June 26 or Super Summer drawing more than 1,300 teens from Mississippi Baptist churches (July 11-15), MC’s 2016 camp season promises to be busy. Birmingham-based Student Life camps will wrap up the season July 18-22.
Mary McRae, who recently completed her year as MC’s Student Government Association president, will play a major role during the upcoming camp season. The Tishomingo County native will serve as director of LifeWay’s Fuge camps on the Clinton campus.
Mary brings plenty of experience. A May 2016 MC graduate, McRae attended Fuge as a camper from 2009 through 2013 at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. She also worked as a staffer at Fuge camps the past two summers at Ridgecrest in North Carolina.
“Directing camp has always been a dream of mine, and now I get to do it at a location that I know and love,” McRae says. “Fuge has always been a big part of my life, and MC has been my home for the past four years.”
Serving thousands of students each summer from hundreds of churches, Fuge is a popular nationwide camp with 21 locations. Fuge offers a diverse group of programs allowing students to do mission work in their communities, learn about Christ through games and track times and draw closer to God at worship services, McRae noted. Life-changing experiences happen for many campers each summer.
Largely through her church, Pinelake, McRae did extensive mission work including trips to Honduras and Canada, along with local activities in Jackson. “I’m excited to bring the things that I’ve learned back to MC this summer!”
Sports camps at Mississippi College allow Lady Choctaws hoops coach Paul Duke and other team leaders the opportunity to stress fundamentals, preach discipline, and strengthen skill levels of players. And it’s also a convenient place for MC coaches to evaluate future college prospects. “It is a big recruiting tool,” Duke said. “Camps are the face of your program.”
In recent years, Lady Choctaws hoops players like Adrianna Horne often attended MC summer basketball camps with teammates from Pearl High School. A 5’9” small forward, Adrianna will return to Duke’s squad as a sophomore wearing the Blue & Gold.
For more information on MC summer campus, contact Ken Gilliam, director of the Office of Continuing Education, at 601-925-3264 or gilliam@mc.edu
Photo: Mississippi College Choctaws head football coach John Bland and his staff are pictured at the university’s 2015 football camp on the Clinton campus. About 150 to 200 student-athletes are expected to attend the 2016 MC football camp at Robinson-Hale Stadium on May 31.
Article by: Hannah Wallace, Public Relations Assistant at Mississippi College
