Week of Champions lives on under new direction, in founder’s memory

Jimmy Baker wrestled with a heavy heart this spring.

His longtime friend Gary Wetherington was nearing the end of his days. Not only that, so appeared Wetherington’s legacy — the Week of Champions sports camps that have been a Lowcountry mainstay since the late 1970s.

After three years under the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the South Coastal chapter announced in March that the camps would not move forward in 2016.

“It had been on my heart,” Baker said. “Gary’s health was declining, and this was a tremendous passion of his. I started wondering if something could be done that would allow it to continue. Within a day or two, Chuck called.”

That would be Chuck Workman, Week of Champions director in its first two years under FCA management. He, along with several friends, also had seen notice of the camp’s shaky future.

“Camps (like WOC) are on my heart,” said Workman, now a family minister at First Baptist Hilton Head. “So when we heard FCA wasn’t going to do it, people came to me and said, ‘Chuck, can you maybe get a team together?’”

The project took on added meaning when Wetherington passed away in early April at age 72. But his passion will live on at the 38th Week of Champions, set for June 6-10 at Hilton Head Island High School. Instruction in football, soccer, baseball, basketball, softball and golf will be offered to youths age 8-12.

It’ll be a scaled-down version, with just one location instead of as many as five sites in the past. But it also is an opportunity to return to its roots — two-day minicamps that allow youths to learn multiple sports, once again free of cost.

“It’s happening,” Workman said. “That’s what so many people have wanted to hear again. You can hear the excitement in the kids when you tell them it’s happening.”

The camps were renowned for a lineup of current and former professional athletes that included Atlanta Falcons linebacker (and WOC co-founder) Greg Brezina and Braves playoff hero Sid Bream. Along with offering their athletic insights, they made time to share their Christian testimony.

Though the transition has given Workman a late start for this summer, he’s hopeful some of the previous athlete volunteers might have space in their schedules.

Among the early commitments are former major league pitcher Andy McGaffigan (Expos, Giants) and Steve Shak, a former No.1 draft pick in Major League Soccer. Local coaches and high schoolers also will work with the campers.

“We’re basically starting from zero,” Workman said. “We’ve had some very generous donations to get started, and we’ve had some people call. Some people that called with questions wound up saying, ‘How can we donate?’ That’s something.”

Wetherington and Brezina launched the Week of Champions in 1979, starting with 50 kids in a single football clinic. Before long, the camp grew to include baseball, golf, tennis and soccer, also spreading its physical presence to Bluffton, Beaufort, Ridgeland and even Hardeeville.

Athletes donated their time, and donations paid for their housing and meals. The week also included a banquet that produced such featured speakers as Bream, College Football Hall of Famer Bobby Bowden, and fellow coaches Mark Richt and Dabo Swinney. One year, comedian Jeff Foxworthy was the keynote.

Nor was it only local youth that attended. “A number of people would tell us they planned their vacation around coming to these camps,” said Baker, who recently retired as Palmetto Electric’s vice president of marketing.

Wetherington and his wife, Wanda, ran the camps for 34 years before Gary’s declining health forced him to give up the reins in 2012. A deal was struck for FCA to assume control, and Workman came on board as director.

By 2014, the camp grew to more than 1,100 attendees, making it the largest FCA camp in the nation. But with the success came a new dilemma — namely, financing such a large endeavor. Last year, a camp fee was added for the first time.

Even with that, FCA officials wrestled with a project that drained resources from their chief focus on middle and high schools. “They did a good job,” Baker said, “but it didn’t necessarily fit real well.”

Now the torch falls to Workman, Baker and others who want to see the Wetheringtons’ vision continue to impact area youngsters.

“Now we’re starting to realize how much they did,” Baker said. “It was absolutely their passion, their love.”

Workman said: “We want to do the right thing for Gary and Wanda Wetherington. They poured their heart into this ministry.”

This story was originally published May 1, 2016 at 8:20 PM with the headline "Week of Champions lives on under new direction, in founder’s memory."