The fourth annual Camp ENRGY, a free, five-day event for youth with physical disabilities, is slated through July 27 at Middle Tennessee State University.

“The camp’s mission is to promote physical activity in a population that is at risk for sedentary behavior,” said Dr. Sandy Stevens, camp co-director with doctoral student Jenny Hutchens.

A Camp ENRGY 2011 camper shouts with excitement while zooming down the slide with a camp instructor into the indoor pool at MTSU’€™s Recreation Center. (MTSU file photo by j. Intintoli)

“Participation in this camp increases the level of activity in these children year-round.”

Sponsored by the MTSU Center for Physical Activity and Health in Youth, Camp ENRGY — which stands for Excellence ‘N’ Recreation and Games for Youth — includes baseball, basketball, yoga, a nutrition session, gymnastics, cheerleading, nature trail, martial arts, alpine tower, golf, football, kayaking, soccer and geocaching.

Many activities are scheduled to take place in the MTSU Health, Wellness and Recreation Center. Some activities will take place at other campus venues.

The camp has been funded with a grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We feel fortunate to have had funding from the CDC,” said Stevens. “And, while the grant is expiring this year, we hope we can find more funding to keep the camp going in the future.”

For more information, contact Stevens at sstevens@mtsu.edu or 615-478-9001 or Dr. Don Morgan, director of the MTSU Center for Physical Activity and Health in Youth, at 615-898-5549 or dmorgan@mtsu.edu.

You can view a slideshow of a few photos from last year’s Camp ENRGY below.

— Gina K. Logue (Gina.Logue@mtsu.edu)