Never been a big fan of summer camps outside my control. In most cases, I found summer basketball camps to be expensive and quite frankly not worth the cost. If I were a parent of a player, I would have a hard time justifying spending several hundred dollars so my child can swim in a pool and live in a dorm. Ok, ok I will back off .... a little. There are benefits of some camps but you need to do some research so you get your child in the best situation. Some camps are primarily about games and awards. Will they make your players better? We offered camps for all levels grades 1-12. I determined what was taught. I am a big believer in less is more. I have witnessed camps where sessions are 3-4 hours long for elementary age players. Forgive me, but I see no reason for this. Players (and coaches) haver limited attention spans. I want skill development. Yes, we tried to have some fun but fun with a purpose. I wanted our players at all grade levels to know who I was and that I was willing to invest time and energy in them. Camps were an important part of our feeder program. I was somewhat "fussy" about what our players were being feed.
SUMMER CAMPS
What role do summer camps play in your program development? I directed our own camps for a number of years. Because of the size of the school, I divided the camps into levels. Level 1 was for boys going into 1st and second grades, level 2 was for boys going into 3rd and 4th grades, level 3 was for boys in grades 5th and 6th grades, level 4 was for boys going into 7th and 8th grades and level 5 was for boys in grades 9-12. We tried to have fun but teach at the same time. This can be a difficult balance at times. I also tried
to schedule the camp early in the summer and at times during the day that
had the fewest conflict with other activities.
LENGTH OF CAMPS
Younger levels I felt four days was enough. I also never went over an hour for level 1 & 2 campers. Level 3 camp sessions were an hour and 15 minutes. Levels 4 & 5 were sometimes 4 days and sometimes I went 5 days. Level 4 camp sessions were an hour and a half. Level 5 camp sessions were two hours. (One of the issues that I did not like in some summer camps were long sessions and great range of ages and abilities. I don’t believe it is productive to have 3-4 hour sessions with boys in grades 7-12 all in the same session …. (Just my opinion.)
ADMINISTRATION
I ran my camps through the jurisdiction of our Community Education Office. I was fortunate enough to have other members of our coaching staff help, and at lower levels, I often was able to entice our older players to help. (Funny how older players find out that coaching isn’t as easy as they think.)
I distributed camp fliers to the elementary grades and if I had parent email
addresses I would send some signup forms via email and some by way of letter. I also put an ad in the local paper.
COSTS
We tried to keep the costs as low as we could. I believe we charged $30-$50 depending on the camp level. Out of their camp fee, all campers got a t-shirt. Our Hoop Club paid for the trophies, medals and other awards. I also
allowed some kids to come to camp free if they had economic issues. As a
very small "perk" I allowed members of our coaching staff to send their kids
to our camp free.
MY CAMP APPROACH
At the lower level, we had a certain number of contest during each session. We divided the younger levels into “teams” and had them compete against the other groups. Contests were things like …. Lay ups, bank shots, dribbling contests, etc. Younger the level the more coaches you need. At level 1, we never played any games. Level 2, if their skill level was adequate, we might play some 3 on 3 half court the last day or two of camp. Level 3 had a 3 on 3 or a 4 on 4 League and also competed for medals. I developed a decathlon event in which players competed in ten events. At the end of the camp, medals (Gold, silver, & bronze) were given for the top three finishers. I also gave out awards starting at level 3 which were often trophies, T shirts, basketballs, etc. Levels 4 & 5 had decathlon events, 1 on 1 contests, and 4 on 4 leagues. Always tried to recognize & reward those who played hard and had positive attitudes. At the upper levels, we also had a simple fundamental checklist given to our players as a camp evaluation.
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