Chula Sports Camp!

I've been training hard for the past week at the OTC in Chula Vista and have been really enjoying my time here. I find that there is a greater sense of community among the athletes here than at the OTC in Colorado Springs. I think that this is because there is less personal space and we are a bit more isolated. In the Springs, the dorms are pretty spread out and segregated based on length of stay, with short-term campers pushed to the stark, shared-room barracks and the super-long term athletes in plush, spacious suites (I lived in the intermediary zone, a single room in renovated "barracks"). I also think that a far greater percentage of athletes live off campus in Colorado Springs than do here. Here, all of the rooms are the same: small, basic, four-person suites. I was a bit surprised to come here and find that I had a roommate, a college intern here for a semester. The rest of the campus is far more compact as well. From the dining hall to the sports medicine department, the smaller scale of the operations here allows for a greater sense of intimacy among athletes. With the removal of the omnipresent USOC and NGBs based in Colorado Springs, the result is that the OTC in Chula feels a summer camp without counselors, a feeling only enhanced by the sunny skies and neighboring Otay Lakes.

While here, I've been fortunate enough to meet a couple of fellow In the Arena athletes, Mike Hazle and Karl Erikson. These are the first ITA athletes that I've met since joining up with the volunteer organization last year (I went to Middlebury with Kate Whitcomb, but I haven't seen her since graduation). While we have had conference calls as members, it is entirely a different experience to meet another person face-to-face. Karl was also kind enough to give me a tour of the Boys and Girls Club where he volunteers. Half of the kids came running up to Karl to be picked up while I was there. To see tiny 8 year old kids mob a formidable thrower is quite an experience, to say the least. As Mike put it, "Karl is a teddy bear" and the children certainly respond well to him. I hope to join Karl as a volunteer at the Club, once I clear my background check. It is a BIG club with many, many kids, so I'm sure that an extra volunteer popping in on occasion will be appreciated!