Hundreds of camp attendees crowd into University residence hall lobbies, pillows clutched close to their chests. They may be towing a bag full of well-worn athletic equipment or folders of marked-up sheet music, their eyes shifting quickly around the room and taking in the faces of potential friends, competitors and teammates for the upcoming parent-less week. What they do not know is that as they scope out their surroundings, the University is keeping a close eye on them as well.

Brian Walsh, camp director for Intercollegiate Athletics, says this is a chance for younger students to begin to aspire to attend the University.

“Any time we can get younger kids here at University — experiencing living in residence halls or running out to Memorial Stadium — we get that into younger minds, and we are automatically energizing them on coming to U of I,” he said — and he is not just talking about athletics.

During the summer months, the University hosts a wide variety of camps and conferences for all different ages and interests. Attendees come from all over the United States, even from as far as Alaska, but most are from the Midwest. On any given day, camp attendees could be lacing up their golf shoes, practicing their jump shots, tuning their instruments or hitting the books. Camps through Intercollegiate Athletics include 17 different sports, and the University’s conferences and Special Events host more than 30 different conferences for students ages 7 to 18.

Walsh says the camps can be anywhere from 30 to 900 camp attendees for any given sport and roughly 6,000 total throughout the summer, though the numbers this year are slightly lower compared to enrollment in previous years.

He attributed part of this to the economy and said that another potential factor is the change of coaches.

“It’s not a bad thing, it’s just that the product that we’re selling is instruction, and the other part is interaction with players and coaches and Fighting Illini athletics,” Walsh explained. “When you have a change in staff, you initially have a huge surge whereas men’s and women’s basketball had great camps but their staff came in later so camp numbers were a little bit down.”

Regardless of how many students and athletes are enrolled in the summer camps, the increased number of visitors has the University police on alert, said Sgt. Joan Fiesta of the University Police. Camp directors reached out to the police to request that extra police cars patrol popular areas like Green Street and ensure that camp attendees are kept safe.

Samantha Beatty, Summer Coordinator for Conferences and Special Events and 2012 alumna, said it is essential that parents feel comfortable sending their child to camp. Especially for athletic camps, on-site trainers and a well-prepared staff ready to handle anything from homesickness to a sprained ankle, are part of running a successful summer program.

The staff is almost all in-house, Walsh said. Students are employed by private-certified and University Housing where campers stay, including Florida Avenue Residence Halls (FAR), Illinois Street Residence Halls (ISR), Bromley Hall and Sherman Hall.

For Jessica Newman, junior in LAS and summer front desk clerk at ISR, working with people from summer conferences and camps like the Illinois Student Youth Music program (ISYM) and spending time with kids on campus is reminiscent of home with her younger siblings.

Besides the obvious opportunity for employment, University students and camp instructors also benefit from the influx of younger students because it can also provide fresh perspectives.

For graduate students and professors used to instructing college-aged students, summer programs refresh their skills because they require a different mindset, said Chris Reyman, professor of music at Millikin University and summer coordinator for the Jazz music camp.

“They don’t know what they want to do when they’re 12 years old … so the energy is very different than with college students,” Reyman said. “We work them pretty hard at this camp, and they get pretty tired. But still they’re all very energetic, and they’re unpredictable in a good way.”

Trainers are also Illinois students, and the camps are largely instructed by Illinois athletes, coaches and even Olympians like men’s gymnastics head coach Justin Spring.

And although it may be odd to walk down a Green Street that looks more like a high school hallway than a campustown, it is important to keep the bigger picture in mind.

“At the end of the day, U of I is much bigger than what we’re seeing from August to May,” Walsh said. “And that just proves that U of I is not just an academic institution; it’s all about experience and whether it’s academic or athletic camp … it rejuvenates you and reminds you why U of I and Fighting Illini athletics are so great.”