As the weather begins to heat up and schools begin to wind down, many young club goers only have one thing on their mind: summer camp! While many parents aren’t able to take the entire summer off, they want to be sure that their children are able to make the most of their extended leisure time. Many clubs are stepping up to the plate and offering inventive and engaging summer camp programs that cater specifically to multiple age groups and unique interests—helping to provide the next generation of club members with memories that will last a lifetime.
Though you may already have your camp programs well organized and underway, here are some new ideas being rolled out this summer at club camps across the country to inspire you for next year.
The Arts
While sports are usually considered par-for-the-course as far as camp programs are concerned, many clubs are now offering arts-focused programs for those children with creative, rather than athletic, inclinations.
River Place Country Club in Austin, Texas, has partnered with a local music school and conservatory to offer lessons in piano, voice, guitar and violin throughout the summer to encourage campers to develop their musical talents and explore their interests. The club also offers lessons by appointment during the evenings and on weekends for adult club members looking to take advantage of the program, as well.
Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo, Fla., offers a “Broadway Bound” summer camp program that promotes education in acting, dance, movement and music, and also offers instruction in make-up design and costuming.
Summer Education
Some clubs are turning to educational programs to attract interested campers while focusing on making learning fun.
River Place Country Club offers a program entitled “Engineering FUNdamentals,” which is a pre-engineering program for children that uses LEGOs as a fun way to familiarize children with the basic principles of engineering. The program is offered at two levels for both five to eight-year-olds and eight to 12-year-olds depending upon their abilities. It focuses on teaching and applying real-world concepts in physics, engineering and architecture through the construction of engineer-designed projects, such as bridges, boats and motorized vehicles.
An interactive, ecology-based camp will be introduced at Ocean Reef Club this summer that provides campers with opportunities for hands-on investigation of local reefs, sawgrass and mangroves. The program focuses on exposing campers to the diversity of marine life in the Florida Keys and includes activities such as snorkeling and kayaking, lab work, plankton tows and more. Ocean Reef, true to its name, is also offering a Reef Discovery Camp focusing on coral reefs in the club’s surrounding areas.
Specialty Programs
Many clubs are also branching out to offer niche programming to accommodate member demands, such as Karate camps, hip-hop and ballet dance camps, cheerleading camps and fitness camps specifically for athletes and teens. Sailing camps are also popular among yacht clubs and often include overnight yachting excursions for older campers and teens. Clubs are looking to resources such as their local arts colleges or universities to help them develop appropriate programs and provide talented, knowledgeable instructors during the summer months when class loads are traditionally lighter.
Clinics
While golf and tennis have long been staples of many club summer camp programs, new initiatives in both sports are enabling clubs to offer clinics to even their youngest campers.
Tennis
New tennis programs like QuickStart, developed by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), enable clubs to engage campers as young as three and four in the game, by utilizing smaller rackets and courts and lower bouncing balls. River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas, offers summer tennis clinic programs for children starting at three years old. Clinic programs that focus on developing motor skills, balance and hand-eye coordination help campers develop skills applicable to all areas of their lives that will serve them well beyond the summer months.
Interestingly enough, some clubs are even branching out beyond the typical camp audience and introducing themed tennis camps for various member categories. Tom Daglis, president of the United States Professional Tennis Association, encourages clubs to break away from the traditional kid-oriented camp model. “Tennis camps are not just for kids anymore. Consider specializing in women’s tennis camps, men’s tennis camps, senior’s tennis camps and weekend-only tennis camps. Cross-program your tennis camps—add a lunch component, a swim component, a golf component, and a computer component.”
Golf
In the past few years, golf has been looking to increase its appeal to younger generations, and is also implementing new programs to increase youth interest in the game, in addition to programs like The First Tee, and major industry initiatives like Get Golf Ready and Golf 2.0, clubs are adopting several new programs for camps and clinics to help make golf accessible to even the youngest potential players.
The Starting New at Golf (SNAG) program, which promotes the use of specialized children’s golf equipment to supplement learning, includes large, colorful Velcro balls and color-coded club grips to facilitate the learning and club selection process. SNAG uses fun devices like colorful aboveground “holes” and Velcro targets to make play both easy and fun for young beginners.
The new G-Ball program is SNAG’s version of T-ball for children—using SNAG equipment in a T-Ball style league competition that encourages friendly competition and interclub play for five to eight-year-olds—adding a fun and social element to children’s golf camps and programs.
For both golf and tennis, clubs have started to integrate computerized training through the use of videos, games and interactive demonstrations that help players become better acquainted with both rules and techniques. And, as far as appealing to younger campers goes, integrating computer training into camp activities provides the programs a cutting-edge, fun way to further sport-specific education through a different medium.
Camp Planning
When planning a camp program, determining member needs is of paramount importance. To help narrow the unlimited number of programming options, simple member surveys that ask about their children’s activities during the school year can serve as an excellent starting point for program development. For example, if a number of members have children in dance classes, a dance camp might be a good option for your club.
In addition to providing childcare over the summer for busy members with children who are out of school, camp programs help build loyalty and connections with the young club members of today who will support your club in the years to come.
Jackie Abrams is NCA’s communications manager.