Edgewood’s Venus Park was chock-full of kids this week for Vista Grande Church’s Quest Sports Camp. The annual summer sports camp ran June 6-10 and had 173 participants, Vista Grande Church pastor Zeth Smith said.
“This is the biggest year we’ve ever had,” Smith said.
Groups of kids, divided by age, spent part of each day playing soccer on the park’s grassy field and practicing archery behind the pavilion. They also got to play basketball in the gym at the old Edgewood Elementary School.
“I did all of it, soccer, basketball, and then archery,” said 9-year-old Sam Gallegos, adding that he liked archery the best.
Eight-year-old Melody Schaumburg said she also liked practicing archery.
“It feels really really good, cuz you, like, shoot it and it gives you a lot of energy and it makes you really happy,” Schaumburg said. “Some people think it’s boring but to me it’s really fun.”
Miscellaneous field games like kickball were also part of the activities, along with sessions of Bible study. Smith said the camp is an innovative twist on the traditional summer vacation Bible school.
“We try to think outside the box, honestly, and we try to use things like sports to reach people,” Smith said. “We have the gospel part and we’ve got the sports part of it.”
Maria Martinez’ two boys, Cruz, 7, and Christopher, 10, participated in the camp.
“They really enjoy learning activities in sports and they also like doing the worship,” Martinez said. “This is really a good experience for them just to come out with the other kids during the summer.”
