In a conference room, a hundred high school boys sat silently with ears perked, absorbing advice from speakers on how to choose the right college. But the shin guards and grass stains that also filled the room proved the students weren't at a normal college seminar.

They were at a Northern Illinois athletics camp, where it's always about more than the sport.

In an effort to give more, NIU head men's soccer coach Steve Simmons began incorporating a college preparation session for his older sport campers in 1995.

"I began to realize that the process for college identification and selection is always changing, and we have a responsibility to keep kids informed about it," Simmons said.

In the 2007 version, Simmons had coaches from Duke, Notre Dame and Dayton discuss men's soccer at the NCAA Division-I level, while other coaches advised the campers on the steps toward the Division-II and III ranks. Still others orated on the options of attending a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) or Junior College to continue playing soccer while getting an education.

"That's one of the draws here," Simmons said. "We're able to have coaches from top division-I programs, as well as top programs at other levels to teach this guys about the process.

"We show them there's a place to play for everybody, if you're willing to stay committed."

Men's soccer is one of 14 Huskie programs that offer sport camps for young athletes. Northern Illinois Director of Athletics Jim Phillips sees the camps as a boon to both the Huskie Athletic Department and the public.

"We are proud to offer camps for almost every sport we sponsor, from football to golf, softball to tennis," Phillips said. "This range of opportunities helps us reach many members of our diverse community, and provides a broad learning resource for a variety of young local athletes."

The camps occupy most of June and July, when NIU coaches are out of their primary coaching seasons and young athletes are on summer vacation. Appropriate timing has been one of several factors in the growth of Huskie sport camps over the last sixteen years.

In 1991, eight programs hosted 857 campers. Those numbers jumped to 12 teams and 2,160 athletes by 1999. Most recently, Northern Illinois brought a record-high 4,465 campers on campus in 2006.

While high attendance is one goal of the department, Phillips believes the camps have a broader goal of fostering personal growth in participants.

"Our camps immerse thousands of young athletes in a college environment, where they can develop as competitors, and as people," Phillips said. "The camps also cast Huskie student-athletes in leadership roles, which we love, because they are our finest models of the attitudes and actions it takes to succeed academically and athletically."

Northern Illinois wrestling coach Dave Grant uses his Huskie athletes extensively as camp counselors, and savors seeing them lead the next generation of grapplers.

"The camps allow our wrestlers to be role models, and talk to high school and junior high kids about motivation and academics," Grant said. "It also allows our guys to keep their wrestling shoes on almost all summer."

Grant, like Simmons with his college prep seminar, strives to give campers more than skills training and on-the-mat competition.

"We teach life lessons, like honoring your mother and father, respecting your coach, working hard in school, and doing the right things," Grant said.

The camps also offer young athletes a glimpse of college life.

"It's a great opportunity for people to come onto campus and see all Northern Illinois University has to offer," Grant said. "You can build strong ties to the community this way, as well."

Huskie head women's tennis coach Ryun Ferrell also advocates the community-oriented approach to sport camps, and implemented the philosophy in Northern Illinois' first tennis camps since 2002.

"The benefit of our camps is to get the community involved in the sport," Ferrell said. "There hasn't been a tennis camp here in years. As a result, the clinics we did at night were gigantic, bigger than I've ever seen."

Ferrell's 2007 camp revolved around fun and participation, ideals that yielded unexpected rewards for the second-year NIU helmsman.

"I loved working with the little kids, because they have such an innocence," Ferrell said. "I get to be a goofball and enjoy them progressing from point `A' to point `B'. It's a nice break from the intensity head coaching brings to the table."

Grant shares Ferrell's appreciation for seeing the development of athletic youth.

"It's refreshing to see how excited (campers) get when they win, or when they learn a new move," Grant said. "I love to see that sparkle."

It is the same sparkle that appeared in the eyes of a high school soccer player when he learned he could play in college. And it is the same sparkle of a tennis player on the court for the first time in years.

It is those sparkles that prove at Northern Illinois athletics camps, it's always about more than the sport.