Slovenski Camps

The Dick Fosbury Track Camp

November 2021

By Peter Slovenski

After 33 years of operating summer track camps in Maine, the Slovenski family and Dick Fosbury are retiring our track camp.

In the fall of 1988 we organized our first track camp at Bates College. My father, long-time Bates College track Coach Walter Slovenski, and I organized The Bates College Track Camp with the help of Head Coach of Women’s Track & Field, Carolyn Court. We also had terrific help from Beth Whitaker in the Bates Summer Program Office. After three months of advertising the camp, we only had 8 campers. Beth invited me to meet with Dean Jim Carignan in March to talk about the camp. I worried that Beth and the Dean would be sorry to tell me that the camp should be ended before it even began. But instead they brainstormed with me to find out what had been done so far, and what else we could do. I left the meeting motivated to reach out to more high school coaches, and to send out more promotional newspaper releases. When camp opened on June 25, 1989, we had 50 campers including Chris Blades, John MacGregor, Ryan McCallum, Amy Benner, Molly Ware, Joe Welch, Craig Mielcarz, and Adam Verock.

The next year in 1990 we attracted 100 campers. For the next 28 years we averaged 110 campers.

There were a lot of campers to coach, so I needed to expand the staff. The event that had the most campers was the hurdles. So I reached out to my favorite world class Track & Field hurdler, Willie Davenport, 1968 Olympic Gold Medal Winner. Willie had served in and competed for the Army for part of his athletic career. Willie agreed to help the camp, and he coached our hurdlers for two summers. Willie was an impressive coach, and ran military style hurdle practices.

Willie was a big hit with the campers, so for 1992 I looked at the second most popular event… the high jump.. and invited my favorite Olympic caliber high jumper of all-time, Dick Fosbury. Dick also agreed to join the camp staff, and came to coach at our camp along with Willie in 1992. What an amazing staff we had. Dick was an engineer, and used his engineering background to help with the scientific education and technical drills involved in learning the Fosbury Flop. And he brought a high level of charisma and an Olympic level sense of humor that helped the teenage jumpers love the two hour sessions in the morning, and the three hour sessions in the afternoon.

After such a great success of getting Gold Medal winners Willie Davenport and Dick Fosbury on the staff, we kept adding world record and Olympic Champion caliber athletes to the staff:

Dick spent the next 28 years helping us lead the camp. He was such a powerful leader of an educational athletic program that we named the camp after him in 2005.

The Bates Track Camp ran 6-days per week with campers arriving on Sunday, and departing on Friday. In 2005 we shifted the camp to the Bowdoin College campus, and renamed it: The Dick Fosbury Track Camp. Campers arrived on Sunday and departed on Thursday. From our 2005 camp flyer:

The Dick Fosbury Track & Field Camp is designed to strengthen athletic skills and build a winning attitude. Top technical coaching is the heart of our program, but we also emphasize discipline and sportsmanship. We have more spirit and character than other camps because our staff spends more time with the campers. Our staff enjoys working with campers in our structured program, and our campers enjoy the discipline of camp life. High quality coaching with one-on-one attention is offered for the following events:

Each athlete receives personal and group coaching from the camp's staff of coaches who have had success at the high school, college, and even Olympic level. Campers will have the opportunity to measure and watch their improvement on videotape throughout the week.

There will be track & field lectures, films, and demonstrations on the latest training techniques. Staff members also teach campers about other aspects of competition such as nutrition, relaxation, visualization, and commitment.

We had a string of 29 years with 95 to 130 campers every season.

Camp meetings in the apmphitheater behind Adams Hall.

The campers and camp staff participated in triple sessions each day… morning and afternoon practices followed by evening special events that exercised our minds, bodies, and hearts. After 30 laps, the camp has reached the finish line.
Dick Fosbury Track & Field campers and coaches… Thank you for leaving it all on the track.

... end ...