How to Run a Better Soccer Camp - NSCAA 2015

1. Dan Zenkel, President Eric Wittenberg, Director Liz Hopley, Program Director How To Run a Better Soccer Camp
2. Agenda  Our Story  Session Goals  What We Do  What You Can Do  Questions & Comments
3. Our Story
4. Who We Are Liza Wittenberg • Georgetown & UNC -Greensboro • Teach For America • United Nations Association • Berkshire Soccer Academy Eric Wittenberg • Elmwood Day Camp • Woodmont Camp • UNCO Sport Psychology • CrossFit • Berkshire Soccer Academy Dan Zenkel • Columbia Law School • Practicing Attorney • Camp Group, LLC • A Camp Dad • A Soccer Dad • Berkshire Soccer Academy
5. “The Fun Way to Elevate Your Game”
6. Our Mission “Provide high level sport-specific training for girls in a traditional residential camp setting that fosters athletic development, meaningful relationships, and healthy fun.”
7. Our Facility “Provide high level sport-specific training for girls in a traditional residential camp setting that fosters athletic development, meaningful relationships, and healthy fun.”
8. Our Facility “Provide high level sport-specific training for girls in a traditional residential camp setting that fosters athletic development, meaningful relationships, and healthy fun.”
9. Our Growth Summer # of Campers Duration # 1 (2011) 40 1 session # 2 (2012) 120 2 sessions # 3 (2013) 250 4 sessions # 4 (2014) 550 5 sessions # 5 (2015) 780 (Target) 6 sessions
10. The Berkshire Soccer Academy
11. Our Coaches  Assistant Coaches – Playing in College & Coach  Head Coaches – Collegiate Assistant coaches  Master Coaches – Professional licensed coaches with 5-10 years of teaching in a player- development setting
12. TeamFirst Soccer Academy
13. Visiting Pros & Guest Coaches
14.  Begin the Conversation about establishing a community of soccer camps  Share Lessons Learned from Traditional Camp that will:  Make Operating Camp Easier  Build Goodwill & Positive Word of Mouth Marketing Session Goals
15. Soccer Camps vs. Traditional Camps Soccer Camps Part of Camp Traditional Camps Players from the university or Coaches from the Club Staffing Varied backgrounds Coach & recruit during academic year Year-Round Leadership 2-5 Full Time Staff $-$$ Price $$-$$$ ?? % Re-Enrollment Rate 50-85% University & Prep School Campuses Facilities Rural, rustic, woods & lakes Soccer Specialization Programming Diverse interests but lack of depth
16. The Universe of Soccer Camps  ID vs. Developmental  Day vs. Overnight  Facility Types  Fixed Costs  Staffing Sources  NCAA Compliance
17. The Traditional Camp Community  ACA  Professional Development  Standards  Conventions  Mentoring Photo: ACACamps.org
18. Universal Camp Issues  Perennial Topics of Stress for Administrators  Homesickness  Camper attendance  Roommate Disagreements  Bullying & Cliques  Parent phone calls (that last 2 hours…on your cell)  Nutritional needs  Injuries & Liability
19. What We Do
20. What we do…  Solve problems before they exist with:  Camper & Parent Communication  Staff Training & Feedback  Intentional Programming
21. Athlete Handbook Athlete Profile Homesickness Packet Camper & Parent Communication
22. Communication Sample: Athlete Handbook
23. Preparation Sample: Athlete Profile
24. Communication Sample: Homesickness Packet
25. Communicate Once  Create perennial literature  Updatable & editable  Utilize analog documents (the ones we’ve just shown you)  Email us for PDF’s:  Liz@berkshiresocceracademy.com  Eric@berkshiresocceracademy.com  800.326.9219
26. Staff Training & Feedback  Staff Hiring Process  Orientation & Arrival  Staff & Camper Evaluations
27. Staff Hiring Process  Quality & Sourcing  Quantity Ratios  Staff Development  Mentoring / Networking
28. Orientation & Arrival  Model Name Games & Ice Breakers  Facility Logistics  Emergency Procedures  Clear Expectations  Third Party Training  Nuts & Bolts of Camp
29. Staff Evaluations  Self & Manager Evaluations  1 Team Meeting (30 Minutes)  Personal Check-ins  Camper Evaluations
30. Camper Evaluations
31. Empower Your Staff  Engagement and training is a value added for millenials  Happy and effective staff = Happy Campers  “Direction Prevents Correction”
32.  Arrival & Orientation  Electives & Evening Activities  Camper Connections Off-Field Programming
33. Arrival & Orientation  Map & Human Arrow Checkpoints  Shirts & Smiles = Uniform  Facility Tour  Parents & Campers Should Stress Less
34. Electives & Evening Activities  Use Low & No Cost “Supplies”  Downtime & Restful Activities  Supervision
35. Connections  Camper to Camper  Camper to Staff  Parent to Staff
36. Program Intentionally  Leverage all of your resources  Make use of local facilities on and off campus  Research special skills that staff members may be hiding  If they played an instrument to get into college they can perform at camp  Same goes for painting or other skills/hobbies
37. Thank You & Questions?  Interesting Links:  Berkshiresoccer.com  Acacamps.org  CampDirectorsResources.com  UltimateCampResource.com  Contact Us:  Eric@berkshiresocceracademy.com  Liz@berkshiresocceracademy.com  Dan@berkshiresocceracademy.com

Notes de l'éditeur

Fun Activity Handout

Session Bingo win a free drink

Word Bingo
SECTION 1 – Who We Are – Aim to build credability with the audience by connecting them to our story
Dan is a camp guy
- A hate of law practice drew Dan into CampGroup
- CG acquired a family of private camps that offered unique summer camp options. Transitioned out of CG.
- Nikki Loved her experience at Danbee (go Danbee!)
- Nikki went to her club’s “camp” and was struck by the disparity in b/w the two worlds
- Had the idea to merge Nikki’s passions into 1 place but needed the people to run it…

Liza has depth in soccer as a player & professionally as a teacher and large conference facilitator
- 10K hours playing soccer before she left high school
- Soccer specialist
- Played at UNC-G
- Landed in NY through TFA and developed into UNA gig running conferences nationwide

Eric is a generalist and a product of a life in camping
- 2 year old at Elmwood day camp
- Athletic Director
- Takeover 40 year old camp @ Woodmont
- Educational Sport Psychology at Univ. of Northern Colorado
- We were looking at ways to transition from CrossFit business into camping when we got a call from Dan

Notes:
Liz is not Liza, yes it’s confusing. Even for us in the office
We’ve refined our mission and focus.

We have married our traditional camp facility with a serious soccer training program.
Speaker – Part of mission: “provide high level sport specific training for girls”

Transition into our Growth:

Clicks

1 – Outro mission
2 – intro upper field
3 – intro turf
4 - intro lower field
5 – Intro pavilion
Speaker
– Our Facility Represents the duality of our mission. “Traditional Camp + Real Soccer Training & Fields”
What does that look like – “traditional camp setting” looks like this….

Controller

Clicks (order and actions)
1st click dissappear text
2nd click bring in Front Entrance photo
3rd – In Campfire Pics
4th – In – Dining Hall
5th – In Lake & Blob & Canoes
SPEAKER – Eric

We’re growing.
- Word of Mouth & Referrals
- 50% of our campers are returners that come back with a friend

We keep changing to respond to what people want and need:
- Beta  6 day sessions  10 day sessions (HAO)  12 Day Sessions  6 Day sessions w/ Bridge  5 Day with Bridge

Capacity for 6 sessions  more Beds  More LOCATIONS

WE’RE DIFFERENT - Illustrating our growth and intentionality behind what we do.
In order to accommodate our growth we’ve expanded our staff to include 2 full-time program directors and an office manager..
Our orientation is 7 days, but yours could be 3 hours.

3 Tiers of Coaches
Coaching Ed for Asst. Coaches
Asst. Coaches come from around the globe

Coaching

Who Are Our Coaches?
2-3 Master Coaches – Collegiate Head Coaches
2-3 Head Coaches – Collegiate Assistant Coaches
12-14 Assistant Coaches – Collegiate players, Collegiate graduate assistant coaches, NSCAA Certified Youth Coaches
What are the credentials?
great coach/athlete ratios
1 MC, 1 HC, 4-5 AC’s per training group
On field
excellent role models on and off the field
coaching education, training, development
Inspiring and teaching the next generation of coaches
Some video from last year….

Special Guests and Partners have been coming…

Mia, Lil & Tish – connection & returning

HAO

Our Visiting Pro & Guest Coach program
Although this model is unfamiliar with many coaches and kids, they connect to it emotionally
Great People to help
Keep girls excited about the game
Wow factor
Role model in their image
Even though our facilities and operational models are different, we are peers in a LARGE & disjointed industry of soccer camp.

The takeaways from this session should be the low hanging fruit. We understand we’re coming from diff. places. And are trying to tailor the takeaways for universal adaptation
Diff. b/w day & overnight programs
Your job to harvest a nugget to take home

Transition from ABOUT BSA  ABOUT US (SOCCER CAMP PEOPLE)

We want to SHARE & BUILD a soccer camp community in the likeness of the traditional camp world we know

Introduce the two worlds we’re in.
These are generalizations about the two different sides of the summer camp industry.

Of course there are soccer camps that exist out of this mold as there are traditional camps.

ACA – American Camping Association includes over 10K Camps? And _____ Million campers attending
- Data points
- Safety in an industry
- Peer Networks
- Insurance
- Standards

This could and should exist for Sport specialty camps. – Lets make it happen
- Email List S
Diverse programs but similar struggles:

- We know the differing programs all have different resources and limitations, but nevertheless have a lot to learn and share with each other as far as working with adolescents
-
Introduction to the world of ACA camps’

History of Camps in the US back to 1861!!!
Girls Camps / YWCA /
in 1892, Camp Arey in Arey, New York, became the first camp to admit girls. By 1902 the camp was serving girls exclusively. Other camps serving girls made their appearance in 1902 as well, including Camp Kehonka in New Hampshire, Pinelands of Center Harbor, Maine, and Wyonegonic Camps in Denmark, Maine.

Others quickly followed such as the Aloha Camps in 1905 and Alford Lake Camp in 1907 as well as the Gulick Wo-he-lo Camp in 1910. As the movement spread 125 girls camps were established by 1925.

ACA – Amer. Camp. Assoc. Has
Continuing Educaiton
Professional Development

Segue – All different types of camps have the same problems that most soccer camps’ experience
Unstructured = Whether you deal with these issues or not, they exist at your camp in some capacity. Dealing with them will make your life easier. We’d like to share some of the solutions that require a minimal investment that will pay dividends at camp.

Direction Prevents Correction = Pos. Youth Development research

Hierarchy of Worries for Univ. Camp Admin

Serious HeadacheLosing child or serious injury from negligence
Coaches attendance ( are they so hungover that they can make it to camp)
Camper Mgmt

Vandalism
Homesickness
Camper attendance
Roommate Disagreements
Bullying & Cliques
Annoying parent phone calls (that last 2 hours) ( on your cell)
Food & Nutrition as part of camp
Most of the following documents and ideas, like great coaching is taken from our peers and mentors and given our own fingerprint.

Could be called what we’ve learned and borrowed from other camps & learned from our mistakes… These are lessons learned, but sharing how we learned them would be a different session. Today the focus is on what you can do and have your teams do to make camp easer, more fun and better for you and everyone involved.
We’ve selected some areas that are adaptable across all camps, including univ. programs

- Sort of combined topics by action steps for what you would to start integrting some of these tactics and strategies into your camps.
We do lots of things, but there are a few examples worth sharing that can be adopted widely.

Preparation
Ease of Registration
Ease, convenience
Online, PDF
Communication
F/T staffing
Relationship Management
Year-round contact and support with families
Daily contact during camp sessions
Letters home / phone calls
Sample of email/letter before camp starts
Social networking
Emails, Newsletters, Phone calls
Videos
Families feeling like they are ‘part of a club’

Information Sharing
Camper forms
Athlete Handbook
Athlete Profile
Bunk characteristics
Social Engineering (limit cliques coming into camp)
Safe place = learning = fun = confidence
Arrival Day
Remove Fear & Anxiety before they get out of the car
Orientation to facility, key staff & essential policies
Bag drop & welcome registration table
Meeting groups, cabins, counselors
Early on in the Winter/Spring we communicate with families. A lot of this communication is coaching of parents and steering what they need to talk with their athletes about.

Athlete Handbook communicates a lot, but a few of these topics are “Controversial” for families:

Preparation & Welcome Letter
NO PRANKS / food / bullying
Clothing Level Playing Field
No Cell Phones – Even bold maneurvers like this are relatively stress less for campers, parents and staff when handled early and clearly. You’d be surprised how many parents hide behind this 1 page of the handbook

Instead of simply stiffling the communcation b/w parents, we redirect it to a less intrusive and harmful (ANNOYING) channel – Emails & 1 scheduled call home
Information about a campers soccer & personal background go a LONG way in preventing disasters and producing great exper.

Tells the staff what to do IF THEY LOOK AT IT – THEY CAN LOOK AT IT IN THE LAST HOUR BEFORE CAMP

Some listen & some don’t but the ones that do SAVE US a ton of aggravation and time when their kids come to camp with the language about how to address and handle homesickness.
We start communicating with parents in the Spring about specific requests to make camp more successful. Our message regarding homesickness does 2 things:

Tells the parents what to do
Tells the parents what NOT to do

Some listen & some don’t but the ones that do SAVE US a ton of aggravation and time when their kids come to camp with the language about how to address and handle homesickness.
Orientation
High return on time for orientation topics.
Millenials - Clear expectations and connection about the camp program
Make it clear who to praise or fire or who to provide feedback to
60/40 : Information/Fun (community building) Split

Expert Online Training $$
ACA Online modules for training
Facility and Emergency Protocol (lost camper drill)
Mandated reporting
Injuries
Sunscreen & Hydration
On the field / Off the field
Bullying & Discipline
Scripts & Responses

During Camp – On the job Training
Staff Meeting
Incentivize attendance (ice cream/ pizza/ soda/ coffee)
Raffle off pizza delivery
Address interpersonal problems with staff and campers – (vent session with solution support)
Address top 3 things that need “RE-DIRECTION” to be fixed by everyone
Feedback from the staff
Opportunity for Indiv. Check-in w/ staff
Staff Evaluations
- Standard 1 pager
- Self Eval + Mgr eval = Convo
- Teach to the Test
- Screening interview template
- Company Statements  Service Standards  Score

Camper Evaluations
1 page at end of session with open field comments
Anonymous
Ask about Controllable things ( We can’t move the hill)
Direct changes from year to year and influence orientation (Metric for success)

What We Do Staffing
Staff Hiring & Training
Scope of staff recruitment
Sites, google, NSCAA Job Site, etc.
Hiring & interviewing
Individual ‘Hiring Managers’
Building professional networks
‘Expert Online Training’
Full 7-day Orientation
CPR/FirstAid Certification
Supervision segmentation by roles
Daily Informal check-ins with Program Directors
Weekly Formal evaluation meetings
Health & Well-Being
2 FT certified Nurses live on-site
1 nurses aid lives on site
2 FT certified Athletic Trainers live on-site
1 athletic training aide lives on-site
ATC’s on fields at all times
Health Center
Intentional & Holistic Program planning
Focus on the athlete & the girl
Quality - Make Em’ Count – The front line is has the biggest impact on the campers (small margin of error here)
Minimum Criteria
Team DOES NOT Equal automatic hire
Application Process
Background checks
References (and check them)
Skype or Facetime over telephone interviews
Benefits of year over year camp culture
Staff culture happens – You can influence it or not
Distinguish playing from coaching

Quantity – 1: 8 at younger ages & 1:10 or 1:12 at older ages - Better the ratio = better experience for EVERYONE
Deadlines for application & overhiring
Staff Development –
Right people on the bus in the right seat “Jim Collins Good to Great Reference”
Year over year leaders
Share the plan & Why –
Bridge the gap b/w newbies & admins
Returning staff become peer leaders
Not

Mentoring / Coaching – Provide guidance on and off the field to develop coaching
Networking
Orientation – They have to Own it before they Share it

High return on time for orientation topics.
Millenials - Clear expectations and connection about the camp program
Make it clear who to praise or fire or who to provide feedback to
60/40 : Information/Fun (community building) Split

Expert Online Training $$
ACA Online modules for training
Facility and Emergency Protocol (lost camper drill)
Mandated reporting
Injuries
Sunscreen & Hydration
On the field / Off the field
Bullying & Discipline
Scripts & Responses
Staff Evaluations
- Even more important for multiple weeks/sessions
-Standard 1 pager
- Self Eval + Mgr eval = Convo
- Teach to the Test
- Screening interview template
- Company Statements  Service Standards  Score

Camper Evaluations
1 page at end of session with open field comments
Anonymous = truth about what happens where the campers sleep
Ask about Controllable things ( We can’t move the hill)
Direct changes from year to year and influence orientation (Metric for success)
Camper Evaluations
1 pager – 10 mins
Incentivize attendance (ice cream/ pizza/ soda/ coffee)
Raffle off pizza delivery
Address interpersonal problems with staff and campers – (vent session with solution support)
Address top 3 things that need “RE-DIRECTION” to be fixed by everyone
Feedback from the staff
Opportunity for Indiv. Check-in w/ staff
Arrival & Orientation
HUMAN BEING at point of entry on large campus (BIG FACTOR)
Ice Breakers & Name Games
Tour of Facility (Marketing & ease)
People starve for connection – (parents & staff & campers)
Shirts / Nametags
Maps (not just the online campus map) – Draw over it with a sharpie and copy it. - Max 30 mins.

Connections
Large or small group task & presentation (at closing do these skits)
Name games, icebreakers, little buddies etc.

Evening Activities
Game nights = low friction & cost (see resources at end
Free / no e equipment games
Inspiration from RA’s activities as analog

Electives- canvas staff for resources – we hire for them, but you might have them anyway

Elective Selections
Yoga, Waterfront, Rec Deck, Fishing, Outdoor Adventure, Cooking, Arts & Crafts, Music
Rest time
(1) 45-60 rest hour per day
Campers are in cabins, laying down
All-Camp Activities
BSA Olympics
Cabin Cup
Intentional activities off the field
Stretch Deck
Bridge Programs
Arrival & Orientation
HUMAN BEING at point of entry on large campus (BIG FACTOR)
Ice Breakers & Name Games
Tour of Facility (Marketing & ease)
People starve for connection – (parents & staff & campers)
Shirts / Nametags
Maps (not just the online campus map) – Draw over it with a sharpie and copy it. - Max 30 mins.

Connections
Large or small group task & presentation (at closing do these skits)
Name games, icebreakers, little buddies etc.
Evening Activities
Game nights = low friction & cost (see resources at end
Free / no e equipment games
Inspiration from RA’s activities as analog

Electives- canvas staff for resources – we hire for them, but you might have them anyway

Elective Selections
Yoga, Waterfront, Rec Deck, Fishing, Outdoor Adventure, Cooking, Arts & Crafts, Music
Rest time
(1) 45-60 rest hour per day
Campers are in cabins, laying down
All-Camp Activities
BSA Olympics
Cabin Cup
Intentional activities off the field
Stretch Deck
Bridge Programs
People Want to Connect

To Make Friends
To Feel Safe
To Have Fun
To Be part of a larger community
To Feel good about where their kids are

How to Run a Better Soccer Camp - NSCAA 2015

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