Keys to running a summer football camp

The camp at Evangel is ran pretty much the same way as some have described. We get businesses to help sponsor the costs of the camp. To the coach having his first camp, these are some of the details that you will need to get done before even all the kids arrive.

1. 1. Get camp insurance before all the kids arrive.
2. 2. Paint your fields.
3. 3. Make sure you have enough footballs that will fit younger hands and footballs that will fit middle school hands. Try to number your footballs and assign a coach of that position those footballs so you can get them back after camp to use the following year.
4. 4. Make sure all of your lines are painted or if you are using your practice fields, do like we have done in the past, diesel the lines two or three days before.
5. 5. Since our practice fields are away from our bathrooms we rent portable bathrooms that are close by.
6. 6. We make sure we have a concession stand nearby for parents that are there to watch their kids learn.
7. 7. Make sure you have enough water stations with the jugs filled so noone will dehydrate.
8. 8. Have a fulltime person that does nothing but fill the water jugs up.
9. 9. Get your high school players to help out so as you are teaching , they are your demonstators. Give those high school kids a camp t-shirt for helping.
10. 10. Order t-shirts for the kids. Every kid gets a t-shirt that comes to our camp. Since we have businesses that help sponsor, those that give $500 or more, we give a t-shirt to that business. We also have plenty of advertising with our camp brochures and varsity programs for folks that help pay for the camp. Their name is also announced at all home games.
11. 11. Have a precamp meeting a couple days before the camp to clear the air about assignments of each coach doing his postion.
12. 12. Almost forgot this, order enough cups for the kids to drink out of, we had a local fast food chain buy enough cups in exchange for the advertising that they get on friday nights during the season.
13. 13. Have a backup plan in case of nasty weather. Are you going to have a makeup day or do you let it be known that you will take them to the gym or let it be known that day is lost because of the weather.
14. 14. At the beginning, have everyone sit togther and introduce your staff that will be dong the coaching for the camp.
15. 15. Have your coaches meet after each day to make sure that there were no problems during the camp, if their was a problem, find a way to fix it if possible that day so you can be prepared the next day.
16. 16. Sometimes during the camp we have parents that drop their kids off while they go do whatever they have planned while their child is at camp, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A CELL PHONE NUMBER in case of emergency. You never want a injury but sometimes things happen.
17. 17. Personally this is my feeling on a camp for K-5 even though our camp is K-8. Young kids have trouble with their attention span for long periods of time, they get hot and thiristy so you have to keep it fun for them. We never go over 2 hours with them as we hold our camp from 5:30 til 8. The first day it starts at 5 for preregistration. Make sure you are equipped in case you have a lot of walkups which we did last year which was nearly a 100 kids. Be prepared to order extra t-shirts and more concession items.