OCEAN CITY – The Recreation and Park’s Department reported earlier this month that summer camp participants continue to rise each year and that interest in the OC Tennis Center remains strong.
This month’s Recreation and Parks Commission agenda featured an update from Recreation Superintendent Kate Gaddis on this past summer’s camps and the Ocean City Tennis Center.
According to Gaddis, nearly 3,000 kids went through Ocean City’s summer camp programs this year, which is up by over 100 from last summer and up 600 from 2011.
To meet the demand, the department has had to expand its camp offerings and number of sessions, such as the day camps of Camp Horizon and Scamper Camp.
“With the changing of school returning after Labor Day, we were able to add the week back that we lost when they went back before Labor Day, so we were happy to go back to eight weeks again. It is a huge service to the community as far as it being mainly a local resident camp,” Gaddis said.
The popular camps of Kayak, Fishing and Standup Paddleboard also had extra sessions added this summer because they were consistently filling up with a waiting list.
The Art League of Ocean City has also asked for the Art Camp, which had 150 students sign up last summer, to be extended from a half-day camp to a full-day camp next summer.
Additionally, the department is entertaining the idea of having a Softball Camp return next summer as the sport is growing interest in the area.
The 2015 summer camp dates have been set and can be found on the town’s website, www.OceanCityMD.gov, under the Recreation and Parks Department.
“People are already starting to plan around them. It is amazing how many calls we get right away asking what the dates are for our camps,” Gaddis said. “We are excited moving into next summer. We feel confident things will continue to progress the way they have. The staff does a really good job of staying on top of the directors that are coming in and the programs, so it is consistent whether you are coming to Northside Park, the Tennis Center, the Skate Park, Ocean City Elementary School, or the beach for a camp. We put the same type of product out in every place, and we are confident in people expecting the same level everywhere in signing up for one of our camps.”
After presenting the camp review and outlook, Gaddis reported on the municipally-run tennis center, which continues to record revenue growth.
The Tennis Center located on 61st Street and the bay includes six premiere courts and three Lee fast dry clay green courts with professional staff on duty. It is one of 3,000 USTA Tennis Welcome Centers throughout the U.S. with a full agenda of tennis activities from Women’s and Men’s weekly leagues, holiday mixers, tennis outings and more. Full instruction programs are also offered through the Ocean City Tennis Academy, Pee Wee Tennis Camp, Adult Tennis Camp and private lessons
The facility starts out on most days with the men’s program from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. followed by the women’s program from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
“Our women’s program has gone crazy down there,” Gaddis said, explaining the program has been expanded from two days a week to four days to meet needs.
Gaddis announced the return of Rod Dulany to fill the tennis manager position. Dulany retired from 30 years with the Washington Golf and Country Club before work with Ocean City until he took the executive director position with Mid-Atlantic USTA. Dulany will now be returning to Ocean City to fill the position of tennis manager once again.
“We are thrilled to have him. He comes with so much knowledge, and so much he can draw from the USTA that can benefit us, so I expect to see things continue to grow at the Tennis Center,” Gaddis said.
Gaddis furthers, the tennis center is the home course for Worcester Preparatory School, and the boys team starts in the beginning of March.
“We are in the midst of a project funded by USTA to put in under-10 and under-8 court lines, so we can be one of the only facilities on the shore that have those types of courts. We are hoping that will increase our younger group that will then grow the program further,” she said.
Although the center has all of the Pickleball equipment available, the program was unable to get off the ground this past summer season.
“We hope to have a full-blown program by next summer,” Gaddis said.
Currently, the tennis center has an agreement with a nearby residential community, Sunset Island. Under this initiative, residents play a flat-fee to be able to use the facility.
With the construction of the new Marriott coming in to the center’s immediate west, Gaddis hopes a similar agreement can be done with the new hotel.
“We want to keep the courts busy,” Council President Lloyd Martin said. “I hope to get more parking there.”