By Tina Peng 

Summer gymnastics and swim camps across the country are full of tomorrow’s Shawn Johnsons and Margaret Hoelzers, but where do future Olympic hopefuls go to train for the somewhat more exotic track and field disciplines, such as javelin and shot put? You might have to look a little harder, but there are clinics and coaches that offer beginners an introduction to these sports, too.

Javelin coach Erik Bernstein (erikbernstein.com) gives private lessons and group clinics throughout New Jersey. Bernstein, who usually has about 40 clients, says some of his students are high-school athletes who see the underrepresented sport as a shot at scoring an athletic scholarship to college. But he thinks interest in javelin is likely to surge after the Olympics air on television. “A lot of high-school kids aren’t aware of the event,” he says.

Several universities offer summer track-and-field camps that include training in shot put, discus throwing and javelin in their broader curricula. Central College in Pella, Iowa, devotes time to both shot put and discus as well as hurdles, sprints and the long and high jumps in a training camp that runs from July 23 to July 27 (central.edu/athletics/ camps), and Black Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D., is holding a three-day developmental camp in shot put and discus for seventh graders and older (custerthrowscamp.com).

And if you’re looking forward to 2010, now’s the time to get a jump on training for some of the more-obscure Winter Olympics sports, too. The United States Curling Association is holding a youth camp in Falmouth, Mass., from July 20 to 23 (usacurl.org/curlingrocks).