ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605300018
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
Gary Clark has been an acclaimed wide receiver with the Washington Redskins, Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins. But his most lasting contribution may be something the Pulaski County High School graduate created off the football field.
He and his family have established an annual weekly sports camp and leadership program for youths between the ages of 8 and 16, and Clark has supported it not only by bringing celebrity athletes to lead it but with his own money as well.
After 12 years in pro football, said Milton Clark, Gary's father, last year may have been his final one.
"He's got his own business, his own company," said his father. "I think he realized he wasn't going to play football forever. ... If you don't build something to stand on while you're doing it, you don't have nothing."
Clark, now 34, also built the camp gearing up for its seventh program, July 7-13, this year at Radford University.
It will be preceded by a fund-raising banquet and auction June 1 at the Roanoke Sheraton, with hosts including Clark, Mark Schlereth of the Denver Broncos and Charles Haley of the Dallas Cowboys. It will offer personalized items from them and other sports figures as Magic Johnson, Joe Gibbs, John Madden, Joe Gibbs, Ricky Watters, Dion Sanders, Terry Bradshaw, Jim Kelly and Steve Young, not to mention other celebrities such as Fox-TV "X-Files" actors David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, and a National Football League game ball signed by the 1995 Arizona Cardinals team.
The camp has become a family affair for Clark's parents, sister and brother, who still live in Dublin. "I do it 'cause I do it. I don't get paid to do it," Milton Clark said, but he said it is his daughter, Sheila, who is the key organizer. "She puts it all together."
The camp teaches young people to say "no" to negative peer pressure, provides structured classroom activities along with seminars and lectures on AIDS, education, substance abuse, violence and leadership, and tries to build the kind of self-discipline needed to excel in a variety of athletics. Gary Clark has recruited many NFL athletes and coaches to participate in the camp in the past six years.
"We really stress the importance of their self-image and that type of thing," says Sheila Clark. "And the strength that comes from being the best that you can be. And through that, you're never going to be a failure."
She admits that "some kids, within a week, there's just not the time to reach them" but says most go out with a better self-image and idea of their goals. She cites instances of campers who have gone on to win college scholarships, make something of themselves, and even come back to the camp as adult leaders. "So, you know, we have some triumphs there."
One such former camper and youth leader was Geoffrey Pelton, who was killed by a drunken driver in 1993.
Pelton was a camper during the program's first year, when it was held in Roanoke. His mother has been an instructor each year. The camp has established a scholarship fund in his honor, to provide support and assistance to camp participants and other deserving young people in their educational endeavors.
"We've had some kids we've actually watched grow up," Sheila Clark said. "They know the program so well, the ins and outs."
She said there have been former campers lost to violence. "So we have our heartaches and our triumphs," she said. "We have seen the need to bring in some conflict-resolution workshops. ... Primarily, our program is prevention-based."
Of course, she would like to see more financial support for the camp, perhaps from businesses. "For a program that has as many facets as ours does, we're extremely cheap," she said. "What we really, in a perfect world, would love to have would be for a corporation to come in and sort of take us as their major group."
The cost of the camp is $275 for boarding campers and $175 for commuters. Scholarships are available. A $75 deposit is required. Further information is available by calling 674-1321.
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