Oregon State University began its first summer sports program during the summer of 1961. The program was severely limited, offering only boy's baseball. For 10 years the program remained relatively small in size.
In 1971 the program grew substantially when directors Don Martin and Dow Poling decided to offer more activities. In addition to baseball, they offered swimming and soccer. Although these activities had existed at OSU since 1968, this was the first time they were offered in a summer program. Continual requests from parents introduced the Girls Summer Youth Program.
In 1989, the boys and girls camps combined to become the Oregon State University youth summer sports program. The new program was a six-week camp for ages 8-14, and offered new activities such as aerobic dance, soccer, and basketball for both girls and boys. In 1995 the camp began offering a full day option which consisted of four two-week sessions. Under the direction of current camp director, Karen Swanger, the camp expanded in 1999 to provide five two-week sessions. Enrollments grew to 400 campers per one-week session, increasing camp hours to provide care from 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM. The vast amount of growth also added an 11th week to camp.
Since 1961, the OSU summer sports program has evolved by leaps and bounds. The program, now "Kidspirit," offers sports, arts, science, gymnastics, cooking, and so many other activities as part of our Summer Day Camp. Gymnastics and No-School Day ACES Day camps are offered all year long! KidSpirit continues to expand to this day, constantly innovating and creating new programs to best serve the youth of the community.
KidSpirit is directed by Karen Swanger. Karen has an MS in Exercise Sport Science and Minor in Conflict resolution from Oregon State University. She has over 30 years experience in recruiting, training, evaluating, and managing large groups (200+) of staff and volunteers as the Membership Director for Maui Girl Scouts and the director of Maui Special Olympics. Karen is assisted at KidSpirit by over 120 annual student workers, with position including Camp Counselors, Head Instructors, Office Assistants, Marketing/Special Projects Staff, and Program Leadership Staff. Individual programs are directed by student leadership staff, providing them a formative experience in youth programming and leadership.