South Mountaineer Volume 33, Issue 26

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Volume 33, Number 26
April 24, 1991
Bethlehem, Pa.
WKRP: Lehigh's spring mini-camp for kids
Unlike the sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati" which lasted only a couple of
years, the WKRP program currently going
on within the Lehigh athletic department has lasted for over 20 years and,
with some improvements this year, is
proving to be more popular than ever.
The program is called the Week'end
Kids Recreation Program. It takes place
all four Saturdays in April from 9:00
A.M. - noon and is designed for children
of Lehigh faculty and staff members.
Approximately 60 children are participating in the program, which Lehigh
Intramural Director Jane Josephson says
serves as a type of "mini-camp."
"We offer basically private lessons
in swimming, tennis and dance plus give
the kids a chance to play basketball or
take part in other team-like activities."
In the past the program has been run
for as many as three months, but Josephson says the switch to only a four-
week stint has been met with much
Men clinch all
-sports
trophy over L<
if      ;te
Lehigh men have clinched their    once each
in cross cofnlf 111 swim-   .;■
18th all-sports trophy victory over    mingoye
Lafayette since the award was estab-          Only i
eguLiriy-seheduled -varsity
lishedin 1966.
jnt it-                         ;i'iHHi^
C-Vuvl.      ■
nailed down the 1990-91 trophy with    triot Leas:
.ue playoffs, and including
their 99-59 triumph in Easton. Lehigh    a third ba
seba.ll game played as part
leads 8-4 with onlv tennis remaining,     of the Pai
not. League schedule
April 25 on the Engineer courts.                In cot
npetitioh for the women's
Along with their 18 all-sports fro-    cup, whe
re the scoring is different.
phy decisions the Lehigh men also     Lafayette
has a 4 1/2-2 advantage
have figured in six ties. Lafayette has    with thre
won it only once in 24 years, in 1981 -    will be la
82 competition by a 7-5 margin.           at Latavt
tie and a softball double-
In 1990-91 action Lehigh boasts     header4/2
7 at Lehigh. Lacrosse counts
single triumphs in tootbali. goif (by    one point
, the others one-half point
tiebreaker), soccer, lacrosse, track and    because i
iere is more than one meet-
baseball, and a pair in basketball. :   ing in eat
Lafayette won twice in baseball and         Then
Lehigh athletes help kids learn to swim in the WKRP program.
photo by KEITH RAPPAPORT
approval.
"I think in the past the kids began to
get bored with the program," she said.
"Now since we wait until April not only
do we keep the kids interested, but we
also are able to involve some of our own
athletes."
Members of Lehigh's swimming and
tennis teams serve as instructors in the
pool and on the Rauch Field House
tennis courts. This affords each camper
individualized attention from people who
are well-skilled in the particular sport.
"I think it's a great situation for
everyone who is inyolved," Lehigh head
swimmming coach Chris Marshall said.
"The team members really enjoy teach
ing and in fact many of them teach in the
summer. Plus I think there is an excellent
relationship between the instructor and
camper."
Students from the age of one year-old
David Erickson, son of Lehigh Director
of Student Life Mark Erickson, to the age
of 10 are taking part in the program which
is divided up into three one-hour segments. Participants are able to choose
which area of the program they would
like to spend their time and, as for the
parents, they also are given an option.
Fitness Center Director Mike Wolf
conducts seminars on fitness for parents
while their children are learning how to
swim or play tennis.
Lehigh plays brain games in vision seminar
By THERESA KELLY
South Mountaineer Editor
Harvey Ratner isn't a real big fan of
just teaching the fundamentals.
"What good is technique if you
don't know where the ball is?" he asks.
Ratner, who spoke to a group of
about 100 Lehigh University athletes,
works with athletes in vision training, or,
as he now calls it, "brain training."
Ratner's lively presentation, spon-
tic stick with three different-colored balls
on each end and in the middle. This
object looks like a child's toy but is
described as a "vision training device
designed to enhance and strengthen a
person's visual system."
Lehigh quarterback Scott Semp-
timphelter tested his peripheral ability
as Ratner had him identify the colored
the air, the task became more challeng
ing.
A brief, interactive slide presenta
tion showed just how long one
second can be in terms
of visual awareness.
Ratner flashed a
slide with four
numbers on a
sored by Lehigh's Sports Medicine Department, was filled with demonstrations on improving peripheral skills,
quickening response to stimuli, and
improving balance.
"You see something, and if you
have no visual deficit, you can process
the information," Ratner says. "The
quicker the decision is made, the easier
the job is to make the adjustment and
respond to the stimuli."
Ratner used a "jugglestick," a plas-
balls of the jugglestick as they came into
his view from behind.
The device also proved to be a test
for baseball catcher Van Shell and
women's lacrosse goalie Gamil Hall.
Shell and Hall both learned to improve
speed-of-decision skills vital to their
positions on the playing field. If Ratner
said to catch the red ball before he threw
the jugglestick from a distance of 15
feet, the two had no trouble. But if he
called out a color while the stick was in
screen for 1/125th
of a second, and
many athletes were
able to read the
numbers correctly.
He says that sort of
speed of recognition
and concentration is vital to
athletic performance.
Ratner, currently working with the
California Angels, has also worked with
the Baltimore Orioles, Georgetown men's
basketball, the Washington Capitals and
the U.S. Tennis Association. He related
stories of how athletes in his program
went  from  struggling
minor-leaguers to everyday starters in
the majors.
"There  are
people with perfect   technique
who needed vision and mental
preparedness to
make it to the major
leagues.   It   can   be
learned."
Ratner works with athletes on
eye-hand and eye-foot coordination, speed
of recognition, balance and timing and
mental training.	
See VISION page 4