Selecting a Summer Camp!

In a few months, many parents will be breaking a nine 9-month routine that started at the beginning of the school year.  Yes, school will be out and youth sports camps will begin for children of all ages.  Prior to this time, I often get the question: “Do you know of any good camps?”

Some parents send their children to sports camp because the child is interested in competitive sports or they just want the child to be active and not sitting on a couch watching TV and playing video games.   Also, the child may be interested in increasing their sports knowledge or meeting new children with the same interests.  No matter the reason, there seldom is a shortage of camps to choose from in Tallahassee.  

Normally, the primary factors a parent often considers when selecting a camp are time and location.  According to DiDmonenico, these are some major factors that should also be given consideration:

• What are your child’s interests?
•  Are the children involved in the camp selection?
• Have questions prepared to ask such as:

Ø  Who is in charge and what is their experience?

Ø  What is the student to teacher ratio?

Ø  What level of background checks are performed on workers?

One of the most important things a parent can do is to allow their child to be involved in the camp selection process.  Parents have to make sure camp is convenient and affordable, but more importantly the child needs to have ownership. This is another opportunity to help them learn decision making skills.   Hopefully, by helping with the process they will be more eager to attend.  

One of the worse decisions a parent can make is to put a child in a camp that he or she does not like.

When I was growing up, most camps were sponsored by churches.  Today, children are more privileged to attend professional camps following guidelines established by the American Camp Association (ACA).  The ACA consists of camp professionals that “work to preserve, promote, and improve the camp experience.”   Under their guidelines, camps must meet over 300 accreditation standards for safety, health and quality of service.  This should give parents some assurance that their child is in good hands.

The ACA has five (5) primary objectives that they want to accomplish through camps:

1.       Health and Wellness

2.       Environmental Stewardship

3.       Team building and Leadership

4.       Workforce Development

5.       Academic Enrichment

Sports, in general, provide opportunities for children to develop all five skills.  The primary reason it is so important during the summer months is because without the outlet summer camps provide, many students would live sedentary lifestyles during the summer.  The obesity rate is already quite high due to children being inactive.

Of the five objectives above, number five (#5) may seem to be out of place.  In preparing children to be productive members of society, they need to learn the same skills that are required on a job.  They need to learn how to set goals and monitor them to fulfillment. They must have great interpersonal skills to work well with others and value others’ opinions.  Everyone on a team has a purpose and contributes to the goal of the team.

If you have more questions regarding camps, please feel free to contact me or submit a message through the comment box.