Camiliere cured by summertime snooze
By KEVIN DRULEY
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kdruley@kcchronicle.com
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| Busy Kaneland junior Joe Camiliere (right) has already gone through football weight training and camp by the time he joins baseball teammates in midafternoon. (Sandy Bressner – sbressner@kcchronicle.com) |
Playing quarterback and center field for Kaneland cramps junior Joe Camiliere's social life more than his right arm.
"That's one of the hardest parts," he said. "Having to give up hanging out with friends or something at night because you know you've got to go to bed early."
Summertime certainly mirrors the school year for Camiliere, from the morning wake-up calls to the long days away from home. He actually gets up earlier for workouts than to turn in his homework; weekday weight training for football begins at 7 a.m.
From 9 to noon it's football camp, and from 2:15 to 8 or so it's batting practice and a doubleheader for Kaneland summer baseball. You'll note there's a lull in between. Camiliere does, too.
"When it's hot out and you come downstairs at my house," he said, "it's pretty easy to fall asleep."
Camiliere would use the weekends for catching up on rest if he weren't already busy. He works 15-20 hours a week from Friday through Sunday as a lifeguard at Splash Country water park in Aurora, using his right arm to swim just as much as the left.
The only activity for which he safeguards the arm is non-workout lifting, such as moving furniture.
"He's using it all the time, so he's got to take care of it and keep it in shape," Kaneland baseball coach Brian Aversa said.
Arm fatigue rarely troubled Camiliere as a sophomore, mostly because he followed the same summer routine a year ago – save the Splash Country job.
It paid off immediately, as Camiliere's development into a dual-threat quarterback for the pass-happy Knights yielded a playoff berth. Several weapons will return from the 5-5 team, including senior receivers Pat Fleming and Ryley Bailey.
A transfer from Naperville Central, Fleming emerged as one of the team's biggest threats in a spread offense. Bailey caught a touchdown pass in the Knights' 23-21 playoff loss to Sterling, a game in which Camiliere amassed 320 total yards.
"We're all anxious with the guys that we have back to see what we can do," Camiliere said.
After a winter of getting his lifeguarding feet wet at the Vaughn Center in Aurora, Camiliere served as a complement to the Kaneland offense rather than a catalyst during baseball season.
He didn't need to star in a senior-laden lineup that included Joe Gura, Jay Levita, Mike Pritchard, Troy Pritchard and Jeff Smith, so Camiliere found himself watching his teammates and awaiting his last two years of high school.
By then, his arm should be conditioned to do just about anything.
"This schedule is hectic," Camiliere said, "but it's something that if I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't be doing it."
