Kingsville Independent School District Athletic Director Robert Wilcox is ready to get things going on Monday, June 7, with a speed camp available to both middle and high school students.

Wilcox said speed camps were first advocated by the University Interscholastic League a handful of years ago.

“About four to six years ago, U.I.L. decided that we as coaches needed to get our athletes in better shape during the summer so when they came back to us in August, for football and volleyball for example, we would not have to spend the first two weeks trying to get them in shape,” Wilcox said. “That was because some of the kids, from different schools, who were coming in out-of-shape were working out hard and experiencing some catastrophic things such as heat exhaustion, heat stroke and a lot of dehydration which are very detrimental. So U.I.L. decided that we as coaches could do a much better job of getting kids ready for the acclimation they need for the August heat if we could work them out during the summer through a speed, strength and conditioning program.”

This week’s speed camp, Wilcox said, will enhance its participants’ abilities in every sport through exercises which promote sprinting, lateral movements, endurance and jumping.

“This camp is not specific to football or volleyball or any other sport,” Wilcox said, “but instead specifically to get all of our kids better physically fit.”

The new AD is confident KISD’s entire sports program can improve if its student athletes invest ample time.

“The one and only thing we have in common with our opponents, is time,” Wilcox said. “We’re all allotted the same amount of time, we may not be allotted the same number or types of kids or the same facilities but we are allotted the same amount of time. In Kingsville, if our kids are not putting in the time that they have available into camps like this, then the other teams around us - who we know are putting in the time - will be getting better than us. So if we are going to be competitive, we must utilize the time we are given for camps like these.”

Wilcox said KISD’s athletic department definitely has the horses to compete. Now they just need to be trained.

“I think we have a good nucleus of kids who are trying real hard to do the things we need them to,” Wilcox said. “Right now we need to get all of the kids in Kingsville buying into what we are trying to do to get our athletic programs where I think they need to be. When we get that, I think we will be headed in the right direction.”

(Editor’s note: Kingsville Independent School District’s athletic staff will host the summer speed camp at the high school practice fields and weight room starting Monday June 7. There will be two morning sessions every Monday through Thursday, from June 7 to July 22. Parents can pre-register their children at the athletic office or on the first morning of camp. Cost is $40 per student and participants will need to provide their own shorts, shirts and shoes. A completed physical is required.

Head Soccer Coach Wayland Sanders will host a boys and girls soccer camp from June 22-24. Students in grades 3-9, as of Fall 2010, are eligible. Camp sessions will be held from 6 p m. and 8 p m. at MOPAC Field. For more information, call 592-6401 ext. 58.)