49er Camp

Swarms of buzzing little creatures with seemingly boundless energy will invade Cal State Long Beach this summer. Nothing can stop them, not even nap time.

The wildly popular 49er Camp for children ages 5 to 12 is scheduled to kick off June 19, expecting to attract about 1,000 grommets from all over the Long Beach and surrounding areas like flies to honey.

"We're maxed out with regards to facilities" for the children, said Bob Wuesthoff 49er Camp director. "Believe it or not, when we started the first year we had 90 kids."

Now, in its 36th year, the 49er camp sold out in record time.

A wide variety of specialized camps are offered by different university athletic and academic departments, including academic camps such as the Writer's Camp, Young Reader' Camp, and the Academic Enrichment Camp.

Wuesthoff, former head coach of the CSULB baseball team, assistant coach of the basketball team and administrator in the athletics department, has been with the camp since day one.

Prices for day camps range from $95 to $225 and overnight camps can cost up to $450. Children ages 5 to 17 may attend camps that run from one day up to one week.
The camps tend to fill up quicker each year as camp directors learn to better organize their camps and promote them throughout the community, Wuesthoff said.

Word-of-mouth promotes the 49er Camp, which offers everything from dance and academics to softball, soccer, baseball, racketball and elementary games, and in the past has managed to attract families from as far away as Texas and New York, Wuesthoff said.
"It's a good camp," Wuesthoff said. "We actually work on teaching skills."
At $325 per child, the camp, like all the summer camps at the university, earns enough to pay for itself, Wuesthoff said.

The Long Beach State Girl's Hoops camp has a maximum capacity of 250 and is "filling up very quickly," said Miranda Serna, camp director.

Like the other athletic camps, the Girl's Hoops camp offers instruction in fundamental skills and a guest speaker, who this year will be someone from the WNBA.

The All-American Baseball Academy also hosts a camp on campus, as well as at other locations in Southern California. Campers will also spend a night in Catalina, where they will not only learn baseball skills, but will go kayaking, fishing and hiking, said Tim McCarthy, a camp director.

Attendance at the baseball camp nearly quadruples every year, according to McCarthy.

"Word-of-mouth and past campers are probably our biggest draw," said Pete Manarino, head coach of the CSULB softball team. Manarino's camp will have more than 100 campers this year, an increase of over 20 from last year, he said.

"Given where we were last year, we definitely have more campers signed up," said Jenny Hilt, head coach of the women's tennis, who runs a girls' tennis camp for children at all skill levels.

"They like working with the college athletes," Hilt said. Typically, CSULB athletes get involved in the camps and help coach the children.