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Sports

Summer Sports Camp Set for City Kids

New Jersey-based institute to provide Glen Cove youngsters with athletic activities in July and August.

Some children at Glen Cove's annual Spring Egg Hunt on April 5 may have found an egg containing a prize that was less obviously rewarding to their budding tastes than M&M's or jelly beans — a coupon worth $10 towards a summer sports camp.

Representatives from the US Sports Institute (USSI) — a New Jersey-based company that aims to provide, among other things, "quality sports camps and programs for children," according to its Web site — were at the festivities with the intention of advertising their services and registering a few intrigued kids, while gently promoting themselves through the egg giveaway.

Three types of camp will be held in the city this summer— a Tennis, Multi-Sport and Sports Squirts, whose participants are between the fledgling ages of 3 to 5.  Each session is the length of one work week.

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Of the single-sport category, USSI administers tutorials in 10 sports, including those less popular in the United States like touch-rugby.

The USSI was established in 2001 under the auspices of its sister company the United Soccer Academy and initially ran 30 camps, according to its Web site. Currently, it runs more than 1,000 camps year round, scaling over the northern half of the East Coast from Virginia to Maine.

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Instructors at the institute come from all over Europe and North America. Of the 25 administrative staff members who work in the New Jersey headquarters, those from the United Kingdom outnumber those from this side of the pond 22-3, which would be a rout, although more of an American football score than a European football score.

Mark Wilson, the company's marketing director, explained that a representative from his company met with the Glen Cove Parks and Recreation Department earlier this year to determine which camp would be best suited to the composition of the city.

A Tennis Camp will be held in partnership with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) at Stanco Park on Lattingtown Road during two separate weeks in July and August. The sessions run from July 12 to 16 and Aug. 2 to 6. 

Wilson also highlighted the Multi-Sport Camp as the flagship program for the institute. Within the five-day period of its operation, lessons on the fundamentals of 15 different denominations of athletic competition are packed in, drawing from cultures within and beyond American borders including sports like cricket, bocce, and those played at the Olympic Games as well as baseball and basketball.  

The focus of the Sports Squirts Camp is cut from the same uniform as the Multi-Sport, only of smaller sizes and lower numbers. Both will take place at Glen Cove's City Stadium in August. The Sports Squirts runs from Aug. 2 to 6 and the Multi-Sport goes from Aug. 16 to 20. 

For those parents who found coupons brushed aside among a heap plastic eggshell halves on April 5, they can be redeemed up until May 15 on the company's Web site ussportsinstitute.com. Camp registration and pricing information is also listed on the site.  

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