The semester is over and student athletes are preparing for summer vacation. Summer sports camps are beginning to open and some of the women of Sacramento State athletics are filling the roles of camp counselors to make a quick buck while doing something they enjoy.

Sophomore basketball guard Alle Moreno, junior gymnast Cayla Beutler, sophomore softball second baseman Devin Caldwell and junior soccer forward Elece McBride will all be returning to coach an on- or off-campus sporting camp they worked at or attended in the past.

Moreno has been working summer camps since her freshman year of high school and said she is going to be busy this summer holding individual training lessons, coaching the AAU Red Raiders and working at the elite basketball camp at Sac State. 

“It does not seem like work when it is involved with basketball,” Moreno said. “It makes it so much easier because I love being there and working with a basketball no matter what the circumstances are.”

Moreno has coached at a variety of camps, but she said she prefers working the ones at Sac State because she takes pride in her school.

“I enjoy on-campus camps better just because I love being able to show other kids how we play and how great of a school Sac State is,” Moreno said. “It’s great to have kids come to our camp and us show them what Sac State Women’s Basketball is about and help them in anyway to get better.”

Moreno said she sees these camps as more than a summer job, but an opportunity to gain experience for a hopeful career path.

“I actually hope to become a coach at the collegiate level one day,” Moreno said. “I love being around the game of basketball, whether it’s playing or coaching.”

Similar to Moreno, Beutler also said she wants to eventually become a head coach and run her own gym someday.

Beutler coaches year-round classes and summer camps at Technique Gymnastics, where the Sac State gymnastics team practices, and said coaching never gets boring.

“We get to do a lot of really fun activities,” Beutler said. “We go to Sky High, play soccer, do rock climbing, parkour, golf, jujitsu and we set up a slip-N-slide behind the gym so the (kids) get to do water activities.”

Beutler said coaching at the Idaho Falls Training Center, where she did club gymnastics, is what she wants to do for the rest of her life.

“I got offered the head coaching position at my old gym,” Beutler said. “I would like to eventually take over the gym with my business degree and run it. The clientele is getting smaller and smaller so I want to build the program back up.”

Caldwell and McBride work at the Hornet sports summer camps; Caldwell works the softball camp and McBride is a soccer coach.

After coaching high school softball summer camp and travel ball organizations, Caldwell said she is looking forward to work this summer.

“I love working with kids and softball is my passion so it’s kind of like a win-win situation,” Caldwell said. “I get paid for doing something I love and working with the kids is awesome.”

Caldwell said she feels the kids benefit more from a student athlete than a retired player.

“It’s just something fun to do and I enjoy it,” Caldwell said. “I feel the girls get a lot out of it and it’s nicer coming from a younger person who is in the process of experiencing it than like an older coach.”

McBride who has been working the Hornet soccer camp for four years said it is convenient and entertaining to be able to work with her teammates.

“It’s great being able to work with my teammates,” McBride said. “Some of us train together over the summer anyway, so it’s easy to plan stuff together when we have the same schedule.”

McBride has been working in the restaurant business for a while, but said she likes coaching better because it is fun hanging with kids while doing a sport she loves.

“Working the camps is definitely easier because it doesn’t really feel like I’m working at all,” McBride said. “Sometimes, we get a few girls who have never played soccer before, and after the week of camp they fall in love with the sport.”

Moreno, Beutler, Caldwell and McBride said coaching the summer camps are a convenient way to make money during the summer, but more importantly they are a fun experience to share with their teammates, coaches and the campers.

Jillian Kweller can be reached at [email protected].