We’re the Rookies, hear us shout.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, YEAH!

We’re the Rookies, we don’t pout.

Waa, waa, waa, WAA!

We’re the Rookies big and strong

We’re the Rookies we belong.

We’re Rookies here us cheer

Gooooooooooo ROOKIES!!!

Rookie Camp – A Brief History

Rookie Camp is our program for kids ages 4-5. Here’s the story of how it came to be, and what we have planned for the Rookies this summer.

1. Before Rookie Camp (2001)

During the inaugural summer of 2001, our seventeen first-day campers mushroomed to an improbable sixty by the time we said goodbye.

We were poised for a bustling summer of 2002. Our quirky program of all ages playing together, born out of not having a critical mass of any ages to effectively form groups, seemed to be wildly successful and universally embraced. Not quite.

A few parents balked at their babies being lumped in with kids almost able to sprout a mustache. They had a point. So we engaged Katia, a brilliant artist, who had run our Arts & Crafts table in Year One, to fashion a program for the 4- and 5-year-olds -- Rookie Camp. A dash of basic sports skills, a pinch of art projects, healthy helpings of music, dancing, story time, treasure hunts, water play…the list of ingredients was endless.

2. The Rise of the Rookies (2002-2013)

Under the subsequent leadership of Chad, Jessie, Brendan, Krysti, Natalie, Cooper, Pete, Rachel, Dylan, Katrina, Herbie, Sammy and a host of other creative and committed coaches, Rookie Camp thrived, often summoning over 80 kids a day. It seemed that every 4-year-old within whining distance came through the Gretna Green gates.

Set-up maven Jason and office manager Delaney hail from the Rookie Class of 2007. Head coach Alexa and long time fan favorite Hayden began their careers as 2008 Rookies. Arts & Crafts’ Lily took the plunge in 2009. I can go through the entire staff. Rookies spawned them all.

3. The Fall of Rookie Camp (2017-2022)

In its time Rookie Camp has hosted a wedding, presented a movie premiere, and seen the simultaneous appearance of two Sponge Bobs! It even has its own cheer.

Then about eight years ago, many of the preschools, wanting to keep their teachers employed during the vacation months, decided to tie their students’ fall enrollment to their summer attendance. Rookie Camp’s numbers abruptly and drastically dropped. Overnight our enviable 3:1 camper-to-coach ratio capsized, surfacing at 3:1 with coaches outnumbering campers. The Rookie yard, with its padlocked gates and echoing silence, assumed the aura of an abandoned Rust Belt steel mill. A few brave parents bucked the tide and sent us their little ones but every summer, the vibrant pulse of Rookie Camp grew fainter and fainter.

4. Rookie Camp Reborn (2023)

Until the Miracle of 2023. Out of the ashes, Rookie Camp rose again. The Rookie yard was reborn, music blasting, faces painting, voices singing, laughter cascading, Rookies frolicking on the Froggie play structure, Rookies shooting hoops, Rookies zooming on the trikes, Rookies running laps around the track. The surge in energy nearly shorted out the Brentwood grid.

5. The Rookies and The Miteys (2024)

Here we are, a few brief weeks from Summer 2024, and Rookie Camp is picking up where it left off last August. We’ve got a full complement of 4- and 5-year-olds, and with so many returning 2023 alums, now in their 6s, we’ve crafted a program just for them.

Introducing The Miteys. A transition to mainstream Summer of Fun, The Miteys will have their own room, their own staff, a program designed for them and greater exposure to everything big kid camp has to offer.

Overseeing it all will be Coach Christian, who has been integral to camp and Coast Sports’ success since 2002. Not only my right hand, but my left hand, both legs, eyes and ears, the entire corpus Coach Steve. Christian has seen and overseen it all. An unbelievable coach from the littlest kickers to the luminaries of club and the Pali High varsity girls, Christian will be the first smile you see when you come through the gates every morning. He’ll have your campers rollicking all day long. This summer is going to be a blast.

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