Marking its 45th year at Cape Henlopen State Park, the 2022 Mid-Atlantic Field Hockey Camp held its annual appearance with a full complement of campers, counselors and staff to make the July 17-21 event a fun-filled learning experience.

More than 140 campers of all skill levels from Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland and even Belgium participated in four full days of busy sessions, working on skills such as passing, ball control, footwork, shooting, goal tending, offensive and defensive strategy, and scrimmaging. 

The camp is led by Frannie Slabonik, a retired physical education teacher and field hockey coach in the Eastern Lebanon County School District in Myerstown, Pa. The camp has been her summer home since 1980; she has been a camper, junior counselor, coach, assistant director, and now camp director and owner for the past 18 years.

Her counselors include high school coaches, and college players and coaches. They teach the finer points of field hockey and make sure the campers have a positive and enjoyable experience.

Coach Carenna Neely is visiting the camp this year as a staff member and counselor. Neely started REN Hockey, a nonprofit organization using hockey as a tool for social development, in the Khayelitsha township of the Western Cape, South Africa, in 2018. She is now now making plans to rebuild the program off-grid in the rural Eastern Cape of South Africa. REN Off-Grid aims to impact communities by ensuring everyone has enough to eat, gets enough exercise and education, and knows that they are enough. Anyone with questions or who wants to get involved can find REN Off-Grid on Facebook or email renoffgrid@gmail.com.

The second session for the Mid-Atlantic Field Hockey Camp runs July 24-28.

For more information, go to midatlanticfieldhockey.com.