Kovic merges fun and fitness at annual gymnastics camp

Penn gymnastics coach Tom Kovic hosts his seventh children's gymnastics camp this summer. Not all summer sports camps are created equal. This observation can be easily made with a stroll through Hutchinson Gymnasium. While the Quaker Basketball Camp trains youngsters in roundball from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. everyday, other children are getting a different type of instruction in Hutch. For the seventh consecutive year, Penn gymnastics coach Tom Kovic is organizing a children's gymnastics camp, which is held daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The camp, which is open to youngsters aged five to 12 years old, is much more than a basic gymnastics camp. "I would consider it more of an activities camp with an emphasis on gymnastics," Kovic said. "Instead of it being a specialized camp, it's more of a generalized camp." The camp may have many aspects, but gymnastics is still the focus. Through five workout sessions -- three in the morning and two in the afternoon -- boys and girls receive instruction from Kovic and his staff in events like the balance beam, uneven bars, trampoline and floor exercise. While these gymnastics sessions take up a significant portion of the children's time, there is much more to do at Kovic's camp. Unlike other gymnastics camps, which run workout sessions for five hours a day, Kovic plans various activities for the children at his camp. Other activities include going to Franklin Field to play capture-the-flag, taking a field trip to the University Museum for arts and crafts, eating lunch everyday as a group at the Food Court in the 3401 Walnut Street complex and taking a daily swim in the Hutchinson pool. "I like it, because other camps that I go to don't let you choose what you want to do," 12-year old camper Lucy Buchanan-Parker said. "They let you work on whatever here." Working on gymnastics and watching the children improve is important to Kovic, but he realizes that having fun is equally important for the young kids. "These are children who are, for the most part, beginners or intermediates in gymnastics," Kovic said. "[The camp] has an emphasis on a variety of activities." The camp runs for seven weeks during the summer. Children may opt to attend as many of the week-long sessions as they want. Currently, Kovic is averaging 25 campers per week with a low of eight in the first week and a high of 35 in the second week. "It's a lot of fun. I do it every year," nine-year-old Ariana Parenti said. "I don't learn as much as I would if I did gymnastics all year long, but I do learn a lot." Helping children learn is something that Kovic has been doing for a long time. A former elementary school physical education teacher at Germantown Friends School, Kovic started the camp at Penn in 1992. "I've always had a desire to work with youngsters, and, as far as gymnastics is concerned, provide that foundational skill level," Kovic said. "I love working with my team during the year, but the change to working with youngsters is refreshing." Kovic is not the only one who enjoys working with the kids at camp. The other instructors feel the same way. "The kids are really enjoyable," said instructor Brittany Dickey, whose sister Tiffany is a Penn gymnastics assistant coach. "It's a full day, so you really get to know the kids and their personalities." The Penn gymnastics team won the 1998 ECAC championship, and although gymnastics is not the total focus of his camp, Kovic may currently be training a whole new generation of Penn gymnastics stars.

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