Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Tawny Kruse | 2017 Fitness Camp participants tackle team push-ups at Middletown, Iowa, on June 20,...... read more read more
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Three men, a napkin and a question: “How do we get people thinking about others instead of themselves?”
The result: an Iowa Army National Guard Fitness Camp, a free summer camp lasting between one to two weeks for a couple hours each morning. The camp, created in 2014, is the product of a brainstorming session between a local wrestling coach, an athletic director and Sgt. 1st Class Jesse Howard, an Iowa National Guard recruiter.
“The fitness camp started off with a napkin and a vision for changing others’ lives,” Howard said, and it has continued to grow both in numbers and impact since the first event in Fairfield. Three southeast Iowa armories have hosted fitness camps, with the latest one put on by the 831st Engineer Company in Middletown, Iowa.
Grace Palmatier, an incoming University of Iowa freshman, said she was initially scared to try the camp.
“It seemed kind of intense at first,” Palmatier said. “But once you get going, everybody is super motivating. It’s a lot of fun.”
The fitness camp aims to stimulate community involvement by providing an opportunity for individuals as well as junior high and high school sports teams. Participants tackle challenging individual workouts combined with teambuilding exercises.
“The purpose of the camp is to be a neutral site for teams to come together and learn about Army values,” Howard said. “Each day we cover different values, and we emphasize them with heroes of the day.”
This year’s heroes included police officers, firefighters, school coaches and all-star athletes.
“When we honor people like that, it capitalizes on what others do for us,” Howard said. “It really hits home when you have the fire department here and they see those guys as heroes.”
Hosting a fitness camp takes a significant amount of planning and involvement. The event takes about 120 hours to plan, Howard said, with about 8-10 hours of planning with each coach.
“It’s a lot of work,” Howard said. “It’s easier to do the camp than to get people here.”
Fortunately, Soldiers with Charlie Company, 224th Brigade Engineer Battalion, and an athletic trainer from Great River Medical Center provided support for the camp.
But the hard work pays off, Howard said. When kids who started attending the camp as freshmen become age-eligible as juniors and seniors to join the Guard and want to explore their options, they know exactly where to go, and have already built relationships with the recruiters.
“They’ve already sweat and worked out here,” Howard said. “It’s normal to them. They come in and we treat them like family.”
Howard believes the fitness camp benefits kids in the community.
“Training for Life,” was the fitness camp motto. For many kids who don’t have the best home life, training for life is more than just a motto plastered on a piece of paper, Howard said. Kids have come to him saying one day they’ll be standing in front of the fitness camp, talking about how people told them they’re just from a small school, too small and too slow, and they’ll never make it big.
“Watching those kids’ eyes light up when they see a guy with one leg talk about perseverance with a smile on his face, going back to the grind and doing what he has to do…that tells me we’re doing the right thing,” Howard said. “When they see that, they love it. This is exactly what we’re supposed to be doing for kids.”
“How do we get people thinking about others instead of themselves?” Howard found a way. Hosting a fitness camp and putting kids in the community ahead of himself.
“It keeps us motivated and reminds us why we put in the long hours and work weekends.”
| Date Taken: | 06.21.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 06.28.2017 12:48 |
| Story ID: | 239472 |
| Location: | MIDDLETOWN, IA, US |
| Web Views: | 261 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Fitness Camp Tightens Iowa Communities, by SFC Tawny Kruse, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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