Simplot Games Track Camp

After another successful camp in 2009, track and field legend Dick Fosbury will bring his expertise back to Pocatello for the third annual Simplot Games Track Camp, July 7-9, 2010. The Simplot Games camp is an offspring of Fosbury’s original track camp that takes place every summer in Brunswick, Maine.

The Simplot Games Track Camp expects between 100-150 athletes from ages 13-18 this year.

“The number of athletes we have attend is perfect for the number of coaches we have,” says Rick Phillips, a Simplot Games Board member who was instrumental in the camp’s founding. “It allows for a lot of one-on-one time between the athletes and coaches, which is what they need.”

Phillips says the camp is not only designed to teach the athletes correct techniques and to improve their physical skills, but also to prepare them mentally for the problems they might battle with in the future.

“Fosbury is great about teaching the kids how to deal mentally with injuries, and how to face adversity,” said Phillips. “It’s a combo of that, and the physical skills that the other coaches teach, which makes this camp different from others.”

Two of the high-profile coaches committed to join Fosbury at the 2010 camp are fellow Hall of Fame Olympians Willie Banks and Andre Phillips.

This year, athletes from all over the western United States are expected to attend, including kids from Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and California. This year’s camp will take place on the Idaho State University campus from July 7-9, 2010. For more information, visit simplotgames.com.