Good Sports: Local sports academy teams up with Fresno Unified for special summer camp

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Be legendary. That's the theme this July for High Performance Academy's (HPA) summer camp.

"It really was born from truly passion and the impact that sports has made on my life," said HPA chief executive officer and founder Jesus Garcia.

As a central valley native and former Fresno Fuego player. Garcia started HPA to give back using the power of sports.

"A human development company that's focused around sports, and specifically soccer," said HPA chief operating officer Chris Wilson. "So we train athletes from a very young age all the way up through their college ranks."

With school out for summer --- Garcia and Wilson had already planned a camp at Wild Water Adventure Park in Clovis.

"The number 1 goal is fun," Wilson said.

But thanks to the help of Fresno Unified School District - this year looks a little different.

"So they ended up just purchasing all of our spots," Wilson said.

But subsidizing the camp, more than 2000 students gain access to train, develop, and have fun - free of charge.

"To send these students to a camp like this, this is a lifetime opportunity for them. Many of the students would not have been able to do this on their own," Wilson said.

Utilizing four separate locations at Wild Water, Computech Middle School and Athletic Performance in Old Town Clovis and HPA's indoor facility.

Wilson says the district wanted to avoid what is calls the "summer learning loss" for students.

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"It's just a huge benefit kind of keeping them up to par so when they come back to school in august, they're performing at a high level," Wilson said.

And the camp is doing more than just helping students.

"Camps like this provide hundreds of jobs of not just coaches, but admins, marketing, management, food services," Garcia said.

One of those coaches - Fresno State graduate Isaiah McPherson.

"Two to three stations that are actually strength agility and speed so that way they're actually getting work in," McPherson

Learning from current and former high school or collegiate athletes, students get top-level training.

Ending with a bit of fun and games to stay cool in this valley heat.

"Capture the flag has been a good one. Kickball, other games, shark and minnows. Just the regular stuff as well," McPherson said.

"I think you just saw a bit earlier today, they love water," McPherson said. "Dumped an entire cooler on me."

As the camp continues this summer - Garcia is hopeful it can benefit more students than just here in the valley.

"Our goal is to reach for this to be a destination for people outside of the Fresno community to be able to come and see what Clovis, Fresno is all about and be able to enjoy the amazing facilities we have to offer," Garcia said.

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