JCamps counselors work as coaches with Rising Stars participants at the Dell JCC. Courtesy: Tommy Romano 

A walk through the Dell JCC on a Sunday afternoon is filled with the squeak of tennis shoes, the distinct sound of basketballs dribbling, and the scoreboard buzzer ringing. Rising Stars, the Dell JCC’s third through eighth grade basketball league, meets on Sundays in the Loewy Family Gymnasium. Rising Stars is managed by Assistant Athletics Director Tommy Romano (better known as Coach Taco by the kids he works with). Romano turns to several coaches, many still in high school, to help run a league of this size. This year, he’s found a new source of quality staff members through JCamps.  

“It was a no-brainer for me to hire camp staff,” said Romano. “They know the kids. They are highly trained. When I was looking for quality staff members, I knew where to start.” Leveraging his experience leading sports camps at JCamps and the relationship he cultivated with the staff, Romano recruited counselors to work with him throughout the school year. Each summer, JCamps counselors complete 40 hours of training that cover important topics like developmental stages of children, social/emotional learning, and safety and security.   

In a sea of 25 staff, the JCamps staff continue to stand out. At one point this season, a Shalom Austin staff member approached Romano to say that a group of coaches had caught his eye because of their ability to work with the children on their team. He quickly realized that these were all coaches who had come from JCamps. Parents too, have noticed the quality of JCamps staff. At the end of a game, a parent approached Romano to say, “This coach in particular was great.” In Romano’s mind, it was not a coincidence that this was a JCamps counselor.  

The skills JCamps counselors practice throughout a summer are transferable and extend far beyond their time at camp. Conflict resolution, creative problem solving, and communication are all valuable real-life talents cultivated and developed in a summer at JCamps.  

Applications for summer 2025 JCamps staff open in February and can be found online at shalomaustin.org/camp.