January 2025 brings more than a new year for Rising Stars Founder Paul Savramis.
As Savramis put it, "The New Year brings back a Rising Stars classic event that, although far from new, will be featured for the first time at the new Rising Stars Athletic Complex."
The classic event Paul Savramis is referring to is the return of the Rising Stars four-day end-of-summer camp.
"The format of our four-day camps has been a focal point of our yearly programs for thirty years," he explains.
That's two years before Paul Savramis started Rising Stars as a non-profit in 1996, and after Savramis began operating yearly programs instead of summer-only camps.
"The end-of-summer day camp has always been held the last week of August," Savramis explains. "That's when families return from other camps and vacations, and it's right before school starts—a perfect week for a camp!"
Needless to say, this is also an event that Rising Stars has sold out every summer for 30 years.
The End-of-Summer event has featured guest professionals and other special guests, which have been a big draw for the kids.
"Steve Nash was a big one for us the year he won the league MVP, and he was incredible," recalls Paul Savramis.
The camp format and instructional program have also been a significant success for Savramis.
"We have always wanted a camp to revolve around each camper and not the other way around," Savramis continues.
"The teams have mixed grade levels that play as a group every other quarter. This way, each group cheers the other when they are not playing. That's always a big thrill," says Paul Savramis excitedly. "They really get into the game even when they are on the sidelines."
Another unique feature of this camp, Savramis adds, "is teaching skills through competitive drills like speedball, where the game is taught, and players learn through playing."
"The one obvious downside over the past 30 years is that we have always been gypsies, having to find open weeks for these camps every summer. Not an easy task, as that's a popular week for other programs, and they don't want to give up that slot."
"We held camps in Hawaii, California, Arizona, as well as in Switzerland, Greece, and Israel, and the overall yearly program itself benefited from this one-week event. Here in the US, we held our last one right before COVID-19. After that, we took a break from looking for weekly space and tried doing after-camp evening programs. But these were never the same as a full day, and they never caught on."
The Rising Stars Athletic Complex will now eliminate the search and offer Rising Stars the ability to bring its most popular event back home.
