Top Three Questions to Ask Before Spending Your Money on Sports Camp.

Hope you all had a great weekend!  Paul and I had a busy one including (in no particular order) a trip to the dump, a few hours rotto-rootering our basement drain, supper with some friends (yes there was showering between the rotto-rooter bit and supper), some bowling as part of a fundraiser for Big Brothers & Big Sisters of London, ON (our team raised the most $$- thanks to one of our members who is a fundraising superstar!) and a visit with my Mom.  Action packed and lots of fun!

Now let’s get to business, I was chatting with my friend Dwayne Blais who runs amazing hockey schools in London, ON and he was telling me about how quickly his summer programs are selling out this year.  I know it is because he does a great job and that got me thinking that if he is fully booked, then there are going to be parents looking for other hockey schools for their kids to attend.  Thus today’s post outlining the three questions you need to ask before spending your money on a sports camp

1. How many athletes per coach?  Will you child be one of 40 kids being monitored by two coaches?  When I train teams I feel like I can do a good job keeping an eye on 15 athletes who are age 14+, younger than that I don’t think there should be more than 10 per coach.  In the Revolution studio I limit my groups to six athletes.  If you are sending your child to sports camp because you want them to get expert instruction and improve their performance, that opportunity will not be maximized if your child does not have the opportunity for some individual attention.
2. Who will the other coaches be?  We have all had the experience of going to a camp that has a big name coach affiliated with it, only to find that the big name coach is only there on the first day and never seen again.  I am not saying the top guy needs to be there every second of every day, but if you are attending the camp because of one person’s reputation, then make sure they are going to be there.  Who are the other coaches?  High school students?  College students?  Do they have experience and what training do they go through before they start coaching?  The fact that someone is a good athlete or a good player, does not translate into them being a good coach. 
3. What other activities will the camp include.  If your child is less than 14 years old, expect that there may be some other activities included in the camp for example for example younger kids in a basketball camp may play some dodgeball or kids in a hockey camp may play some soccer or go for a swim.  I don’t have a problem with that – it is tough for younger athletes to focus on quality skill training for an entire day.  If your child is over 14 years of age then they should be focussing on their sport for the full day which may include skill training, conditioning and theory including some lessons on nutrition, strategy, injury prevention, etc.  Be sure to ask what the back-up plan is if it rains - your child enrolled in soccer camp may end up watching movies if there is not an indoor gym option available.

Finally, remember that it is a sports camp not day care, so if your child does not love the sport, do not send them to sports camp, send them to computer camp or art camp set them up for success by putting them in an environment they will enjoy.   Remember that it is a sports camp not torture camp – when I worked at a sport camp back in the day, some parents would drop their kids of and say things like  ’Just kill them – run them til cry – I don’t want them to be able to walk by the end of the day!’  The point of the sports camp is to help them become a better athlete, meet some new friends and have a little fun – it is okay if  they are not running around to the point of vomitting all day.  Like everything else, there needs to be a balance.

Have a great week gang!
Cheers,
Maria

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