Former Summit Athlete Launches Little Hilltoppers Sports Camp

SUMMIT, NJ — Growing up in Summit, Maddie Wang felt that being a Hilltopper athlete was all-encompassing. Not only did she love playing tennis competitively, but she also deeply valued the life skills she learned from being a Hilltopper.

Now an approved Summit Community Program, Wang launched Little Hilltoppers Sports Camp. This is the second year that the Hilltoppers camp is running.

At just 20 years old, Wang runs the camp herself, which teaches kids ages three to 11 various athletic skills, as well as what it means to be a Hilltopper. Campers can choose between three sports — tennis, basketball and now soccer, which was just added this year.

Wang graduated from Summit High School in 2020 and was an active tennis player throughout middle and high school. More so than playing tennis, Wang said she fell in love with coaching. She taught lessons at Beacon Hill Country Club, as well as private lessons and clinics during the height of the pandemic.

"I realized how fun it is to coach and how amazing it is to work with these kids who I get to teach ... what it means to be a Hilltopper, which I think means having being a good sport and having having empathy and being inclusive to everyone," Wang said. "I think [it's] a really great thing to teach to younger kids in Summit."

Currently, Wang is taking a gap year from college and working on her camp business.

The program is run through the Summit Recreation Center, which Wang said has been a big help in making the camp possible. To become an approved Summit Community Program, Wang said it was a long process of becoming an LLC, completing tax forms and pitching the camp to the recreation center.

Wang said the biggest part of her business plan was hiring coaches that are all either current Summit High School varsity athletes or former varsity athletes.

"I teach and stress to all [the coaches] how important it is to teach not only the sport but also to teach Hilltopper sportsmanship and empathy and camaraderie," Wang said.

Registration for the camp is still available and will be open until the start of camp in June.

The camp runs in the morning from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Here are the weeks that are currently available for registration:

• Week 1: June 20 - June 24
• Week 2: June 27 - July 1
• Week 3: July 5 - July 8

The camp is held at Soldiers Memorial Field in Summit. You can learn more about it and register on the Summit Community Programs website.