Field hockey coaches Jill Dorn of Liberty and Brianna Musselman Cortex of Freedom combined their staffs and players to host the first annual Bethlehem Area Field Hockey Camp for girls in grades three through eight from June 28 to July 1 at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.

“Our proudest attribute of this camp will be our own high school athletes being mentors and role models for the future of both our programs and field hockey families,” said Dorn one week before camp. “This is also a great chance for town rivals in season to show their efforts and unification of strengthening the sport of field hockey in our area. We’ve been fortunate enough to have some outstanding players these past few years, and are looking forward to building upon the consistency of keeping it that way.”

About 50 campers and 30 high school players participated in the camp during the hottest days of summer so far.

“Our athletic training staff was there, monitoring the heat, and by Wednesday, since the highest temperatures were between 10 and 11 a.m., we introduced the indoor game,” Dorn said. “There are different rules and a different stick, but it’s the same game.”

Dorn is trying to create more opportunities for field hockey players and to produce more great players from the Bethlehem area, especially with competition from the sport of soccer. The camp also provided the chance for crosstown rivals, Liberty and Freedom, to come together for a greater purpose in teaching young girls the skills and love of the game.

“On the Sunday before camp, we had our volunteers come to the field for some fun shooting drills and pickup play to break the ice and get acclimated,” said Dorn. “We laid out our expectations and that got them excited for the week.”

Throughout the week, campers were divided by age groups with third and fourth graders having the largest attendance. On Thursday, the girls competed on an Olympic-style course with a variety of stations, and at the end, played in a small tournament, inviting parents to attend.

“It was all-encompassing,” Dorn said. “We awarded points, and the kids got prizes.”

Dorn and Musselman Cortex received positive feedback from campers’ parents, which is another incentive to keep the camp going annually.

“COVID really hurt,” Dorn said. “We had some strong programs in the community, so we want to pick up the slack from that.”