It was an invitation Hollis Conway couldn’t refuse.
Conway, the only American to win two Olympic medals in the high jump, drove in from Lafayette on Tuesday morning at the request of five-time volleyball Olympian Danielle Scott.
“When Danielle calls, I’m there,” Conway said. “We started the Louisiana chapter of Olympians & Paralympians years ago.
“I was the first president. Danielle has picked up the ball and has kept it rolling. This matters.”
The duo teamed with former LSU sprinter Hazel Regis-Buckels, a two-time Olympian for Grenada, to put on a free-of-charge camp at BREC’s Hartley/Vey Park at Gardere.
With no track facilities on site, there was no passing of a baton. A makeshift volleyball court was set up on the outdoor basketball court.
Skills were taught, encouragement was plentiful and high-fives were exchanged with more than 40 participants.
Talk about the structure their sports offer was a centerpiece for the camp designed to commemorate the global celebration of Olympic & Paralympic Day. The changes brought to the college ranks by NIL and recent court settlement were noted along the way as campers honed their skills.
One onlooker who came to pick up a camper asked, “Is that Danielle, who played volleyball at Woodlawn?”
Yes, it was.
“Camps like this are so important for both sides,” Scott said. “It gives us an opportunity to connect with future generations and the chance to teach but also to inspire. We want to get (the campers) to see things. You want them to think, ‘Why not me?’ ”
Participants were urged to ask questions. Conway, Scott and Regis-Buckels signed autographs too.
Regis-Buckels, the principal at Kenilworth Science and Technology Academy, got to interact with several of her students who attended the camp.
“As an educator, I know we want students with good character and sports can be an important part of that,” she said.
Conway chimed in, “Attention and time … providing those things are important. Everything around us, like social media, impacts people physically, mentally and spiritually.
“We understand the transferrable skills you learn in sports apply to other things. You learn to show up on time, how to complete a task and how to press through when things get hard. The further we move away from skills like that you are less healthy and not prepared to handle conflict and challenges.”
Scott contends that Olympic sports provide examples that mirror life situations.
“Life is a journey and sports teach you that. A lot of people want things to come easy, but that’s not always the case in sports or life,” Scott said. “Olympics are a great example of how a journey can look. Some people make it on their first try. It may take others 10 years or more to do it.”
As for the NIL era in college sports, the trio voiced concerns about what it will mean for their sports in the future. Scott lamented how it has changed the parameters for what getting a scholarship means.
“All of us probably could have used a little money to help pay for things a scholarship doesn’t cover,” Conway said. “We couldn’t take money because it was illegal. But how will that change things competitively? We’ll see.”