Help in Choosing a Camp

Are you wondering where to start?

If you’re feeling a little bewildered and are not sure what camp is going to be the best one for your son or daughter, don’t worry - we are here to help you consider all the options.

Doing an independent search

Before you begin a search for the best camp that meets all your criteria, simply follow these simple steps:

STEP 1 CHOOSE THE ACTIVITY

To begin the search, think about what type of sport or activity would be the best one for your child:

STEP 2 CHOOSE THE TYPE OF CAMP

There are 3 types of camp:

1. Standard camps which are geared towards young people who play their sport as a hobby. These camps are ideal for children who, as well as doing the sports coaching at the camp or academy, would also like to take part in other activities typical to a summer camp and not confine themselves purely to the sport.
2. Technical camps, designed for young people who are more serious about their sport (tennis, golf, football or basketball) and who play for a local team or club. The training at these camps is based on the assumption that the participants will already have basic technical and tactical knowledge as well as a good level of physical fitness, enabling them to take part in a more intensive style of training. There are also theory classes (for example on subjects such as visualisation of matches) to help students develop their tactical ability. The general level of the participants is somewhat higher than that of the standard camps, these latter programmes being suited to young people who mainly play sport for fun, without particularly aiming to develop their skills to a higher level.
3. Proficiency camps these comprise a more demanding programme suited to those young people whose skills are considerably higher than average. Participants in these programmes must have demonstrated a serious commitment to their chosen sport and be expecting an intensive programme with many hours of training per day. It’s especially geared towards those young people with natural sporting ability, whose aim is to become professionals in their sport, and who are ready to make sacrifices to achieve their objectives.

STEP 3 LANGUAGE CLASSES

Decide whether or not you want a camp which includes language classes. This is important because it can considerably restrict the number of available options.

As a general rule, all the standard and technical camps include the option to take language classes but this is not the case with the proficiency academies because the sports coaching is very intensive and there is not enough time to include language study in the schedule.

STEP 4 CHOOSE THE LOCATION

Once you decide the programme you want, you should look at the possible destinations for the type of camp you have chosen. You might be guided as to the destination based on distance, price, language immersion, facilities etc.

It may be that for you the destination is the most important aspect and if this is the case then you should re-order the sequence of the steps described above.

You are now equipped with the key criteria to help you in the choice of camp for your son or daughter!