summer camp organization - please respond coaches!

The kids like Competitions, especially if they win something. It doesn't even have to be worth anything, just something they can show as they won. My son got a cheap Ball from a camp for hustling on the first day of a 3 day camp. You should have seen him ,and the others that didn't get a ball,hustle the other 2 days. I would even give one out to the first kid to hustle first thing in camp.

I like to see a low Coach to player ratio, lots of stations(kids look busy and I feel I got my moneys worth) and fundamentals stressed. It's also important to me to hear how the coaches break things down in kids terms.

I'm thinking of running a camp this summer for the first time. Last year we had a University Coach come in and run a hitting camp, and in one 4 hr session he hd the kids hitting one at a time while he watched, 1 hitting 32 in the field! Unbelievable! I think Our HS staff can do a fine job, couldn't do worse.

Take a camp picture with all the coachs in it and give each player one at the end of the camp. When they get in High School they will enjoy looking at some of their fellow teamates etc. Give a camp T-Shirt to each player. Its great to see the guys wearing them over the years. We always have a guest speaker during the camp. A former major league player or a well respected coach in the area etc. Have some of your current and former players work the camp. Its great for the current players because one of the best ways to learn something really well is to teach it. Former players always offer insight and can give campers insight into your program. Competitive competition during the camp makes kids want to come back for more each year. Make sure that you dont get caught up in ages so much in grouping players for drills. Be more concerned with ability. The worst case scenario is to put talented players in with non talented players it is very frustrating for both groups. For hitting we have instruction phase, toss and t work phase, cage phase and live bp on the field. Kids love to hit on the field for obvious reasons. Make your fielding drills competitive as well as throwing drills. Kids like to compete against others and the clock. We have times that kids compete against and they love it. Just some suggestions good luck coach.

Thanks, guys - I'll keep this in mind.

We run 3 camps as well.

Fundamentals Camp - open to anyone 4th grade to incoming freshmen. They get a T-Shirt which matches the "Team T-Shirt" from that year's high school team. I never include years on the shirts but that is just my personal preference. It covers all facets of the game with Some 10 hitting stations and then Outfield and infield stations. My first year which was a few years ago, we had 40 kids and this past year we had 67.

Advanced Hitting - This is strickly Hitting and the campers come in waves. We seperate them by grades and they get 1 hour and 15 minutes of instruction. They are limited to 10 in a session. We create as many sessions as possible. We set up some 15 different drills throughout the week that we emphasis. The players hit at one station 10 minutes w/partner and then rotate. The extra 5 minutes is for talk and to allow the next group to get to the cages. We use 4 cages, 2 half cages, a rolling cage and then hitting socks to hit into. My first year, we had 30-40 kids. This past year, we had 124 kids. You know that most parents don't think that their kids need the fundamentals camp. However, that word "Advanced" exactly fits their opinion of their child and so...

Rec. Camp - This is more of a camp for kids that love the game, aren't superstars and know that they need help. This is a very laid back approach to coaching and generally based more on the gifts/awards. We have done this for 3 years and it barely "makes" each year with a minimum of 25. However, for me, it is the most fun because you see the most improvement in these kids. Also, they don't take the world so seriously and you often laugh with them.

Well, this has been too long but it is a part of what we do.

"There comes a time when you have to stop dreaming of the man you want to be and start being the man you have become." Bruce Springsteen