At 9 a.m. on a warm Monday in mid-July, Portland State football players are assembling on the field, buzzing with energy. But instead of their practice jerseys, cleats and helmets, they're sporting broad smiles and gear from Camp Exceptional, an inclusive sports camp that they volunteer at every year.
At Camp Exceptional, kids with and without disabilities come together every summer for a week of fun, movement and community connection.
The Portland State football team started volunteering at the camp more than a decade ago. Now, it’s a mandatory commitment for first years on the team. After that, players can decide if they want to come back and work at the camp — and they do, year after year.
The football team’s participation also inspired other PSU athletics teams to get involved. This year, the men’s basketball team joined in mid-week to help hype up the campers.
Back on the field, pump-up music blares from the speakers, and the air is thick with excitement as the players high-five campers, crack jokes and help them shake off any first-day jitters. Then, one of the camp's signature call-and-response chants rings out across the field.
"If you don't believe?" camp co-founder and adaptive PE teacher Ben Canzano shouts through a bullhorn.
"You don't achieve!" PSU athletes, campers and other volunteers roar back.
Their voices reverberate across the turf as kids ages 5 to 15 — of all abilities — gather with their teams and begin to warm-up for a full day of movement at camp.
More Than a Game
While kids might arrive at Camp Exceptional as strangers, they form something resembling a family by the end of the week, says the camp’s other co-founder, John Canzano. That transformation is something PSU linebacker Keegan Stancato knows well.
"As a kid, I did a lot of these kinds of camps, and I feel like they shaped who I am today," Stancato says. Now a graduate student and second-year master's candidate, he's volunteered at Camp Exceptional for four years. This summer, he led Team 3 — the Yellowjackets — through everything from burpees and sensory drills to football and soccer challenges.
"You remember being that age and how fun it was," he says, "Now, I hope I can give them that same experience that camp counselors gave me back when I was their age."
The camp kicks off on a Monday with a focus on movement and prepping the campers for the week ahead. They rotate through ten physical stations, such as burpees, ladder drills and squats, before attempting impairment challenges designed to promote understanding. This year, the impairment challenges had campers leading a blindfolded partner, taping hands to simulate mobility differences and experiencing sensory overload simulations.
It's an eye-opening start.
"Those drills taught me to cherish what I have," Stancato says. "It's easy to take it for granted. But being temporarily impaired like that really shifts your perspective."
That shift is precisely what longtime volunteer Lauren Lindley, who is on the autism spectrum herself, says sets Camp Exceptional apart from other youth sports camps.
"The biggest thing is, we're teaching neurotypical kids how to interact with kids who are neurodivergent," she says. "It really gets them thinking. It teaches empathy."
We're teaching neurotypical kids how to interact with kids who are neurodivergent. It really gets them thinking. It teaches empathy.
As the week progresses, each day is dedicated to a different sport. This year, Tuesday featured baseball, Wednesday brought football and Thursday focused on soccer. On Friday, they closed out the camp with the Exceptional Circle celebration.
Tre-Vaughn Minott, center for Portland State men's basketball team, reflected on the joy he's found over the past two years while volunteering at Camp Exceptional.
"It's always a good time to give back to your community," Minott says. "To just be with the kids and show them a good time and mentor them."
Each year, he says, is special in its own way. But one thing always stands out.
"Putting a smile on their face — that's the biggest blessing," says Minott, grinning. "That's the most important thing."
Building Leaders
With each drill and cheer, PSU's athletes contribute to something lasting, building confidence, community connections and a love of sport that transcends beyond the field.
This is why head football coach Bruce Barnum encourages his players to work the camp year after year.
“I see their development in humility and in patience,” he says. “I see them in a different environment than the football field and they are learning what is important. Like the discipline they learn on the football field, the camp is part of their growth as citizens for the future.”
I see them in a different environment than the football field and they are learning what is important … the camp is part of their growth as citizens for the future.
Throughout the week, each camper stays with the same team, allowing trust and relationships to form. For returning volunteers like Stancato, that consistency extends each summer.
"Some of these campers, I've known now for three or four years," Stancato says. "Their parents ask where you are if you're not there. Growing that bond with the kids is important."
Each day, team leaders nominate campers who demonstrate one of the five core pillars of strong leadership: respect, responsibility, honesty, kindness and fairness. On the final day, during the Exceptional Circle, campers who have been nominated multiple times are awarded a medal in recognition of their achievements.
This approach is the foundation for the week, pushing the athletes to align with the camp values and become better leaders — all while encouraging the younger generation to do the same. Inclusion and positivity are all part of the playbook.
“I think it’s always important to pick someone up when they’re down,” Stancato says. “Especially at this camp. There’s gonna be campers that are down on certain days, and I think it’s always important to bring positive energy for the kids.”
The growth in leadership flows both ways between the athletes and the campers.
This year, Stancato watched a six-year-old named Eli offer encouragement to a teammate with physical impairments during a tough station. He told him "No matter how you're doing this event, you're going to do great."
Moments like these, Stancato says, are especially impactful.
"It's really cool when you, as a leader, get to take a step back and then your campers take over," he says.
The Power of Sports
For many student-athletes, sports have been an integral part of their lives — challenges and all. That's why sharing the experience with kids at Camp Exceptional feels so meaningful.
"I think everyone in sports has had that moment where they felt left out or unsure of their role," Stancato explains.
At the camp, he says, he gets to help kids who may not have played sports before — or who've had a bad experience — find joy in it.
It’s really cool that I’m able to make an impact on their life and even cooler that they make an impact on yours.
The camp offers a low-pressure, inclusive environment where kids can explore movement and teamwork without fear of judgment. It's a space for healing as much as it is for play.
"When you're a kid, everything is supposed to be fun," Stancato says. "But when it isn't — usually because of a bad experience — that sticks with you. So if we can be part of creating a positive memory through sports, that’s important."
The experience is just as impactful for the athletes. He notes that some of the football players are naturally quieter and more reserved, but camp encourages them to open up.
He says the lessons in sports mirror those in life: perseverance, integrity and doing what's right — even when no one's watching.
Finding a Bigger Purpose
For Stancato and his fellow athletes, the camp is a reminder that being a student-athlete is about more than wins and stats.
"It's hard being labeled just as an athlete," he says. "Everyone on this team wants to influence the community more. We want people to see who we are beyond football."
That mindset is something PSU men's basketball head coach Jase Coburn deeply values. After he witnessed the impact the camp had on the football team, he lobbied for his players to have the chance to volunteer too.
For Coburn, community service is essential to building better players, and better people.
"Players play basketball. But there's also a bigger meaning to everything," he says. "To be able to get outside of what you do on the day-to-day and help somebody else and make an impact in the world — that's a lot bigger than any amount of points that they're going to score."
Looking Ahead
The impact, connections and commitment to the community built at Camp Exceptional don't end when the week is over. They extend far beyond the field.
For Stancato, it’s become a point of grounding. As he enters his final year of graduate school, he's committed to continuing his community involvement long after he leaves PSU.
"I just love helping little kiddos out," he says smiling. "They make me happy — and it goes both ways. I want to keep finding ways to give back."
Many student-athlete volunteers share the hope that the kids and their families will be in the stands cheering for them come game day, just as they were cheering for the kids at camp all week long.
It's a desire for mutual support — to see these young campers not just as participants, but as part of the team. Because in many ways, they already are.
And many of these campers do show up, their faces beaming as they root for their camp leaders — the roles reversed. It's the athletes on the field and their mentees in the stands, cheering them on just as fiercely as the players did for them at camp.
“It’s awesome,” Stancato says. “I notice them usually either when we are going out of the locker room or on the way in. They’ll yell out [your name] and then you turn and it’s a camper waving up at you. It’s really cool that I’m able to make an impact on their life and even cooler that they make an impact on yours.”
It's a sentiment echoed throughout the team and their coaches — that sports, at their best, are rooted in community.