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How to start basketball camp
How to put on a summer basketball camp
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May 15, 2018 • Features • From the Bench • Winning Hoops
by Don Kloth, contributing writer
When I became a head varsity coach, I strongly believed it was essential to organize and run a youth summer basketball camp at the high school. Prior to this time, there was not an organized youth basketball camp in the community.
I was 40 years old at the time, and I planned to be a head coach in that community for years to come. I believed an organized youth basketball camp program would pay tremendous dividends in the future years. It will always take a few years when you start something new to get it exactly the way you want it be, so it’s critical to be patient, work hard, stay organized, and have good instructors working your camp. In all likelihood, there will be some trial and error before you’re totally satisfied with what you’ve created.
When I started, these are some of the questions I had to consider:
- How many weeks should I run the camp?
- When is the best time to run it?
- How many hours each day should it be?
- What facilities will I use?
- What will be the cost per camper?
- Who will be the instructors/coaches?
- How much should the instructors be paid?
- What will be the camp’s format
- How do I advertise the camp?
- Will the basketball program make or lose money?
- What’s the real purpose of the camp?
Here’s a breakdown of each question and what I learned along the way.![]()
How many weeks?After about three years of running the camp, we decided to run it just one week.
I know that some youth camps run two or three weeks, and there’s nothing wrong with that. My coaching staff thought that if we scheduled the camp early enough, and parents knew what week it would be, they could more easily work it into their summer plans. What we found is that many parents would actually plan their vacation around our camp. As a result, we always seemed to have good attendance.
What week is best?I was fortunate to have been the first coach that ran an organized camp at the high school and, as a result, I usually had my pick of when I wanted to hold it.
There were three junior highs and nine grade schools that sent students to our high school, so I checked their school calendars to find their last days. I also would check with my coaches about their availability, and I would then decide what week to run the camp.
Usually, it would be either the second or third week of June. It’s important to do your best to avoid holidays.
How many hours?After a few years, we decided to run the camp Monday through Thursday. We discovered that if we ran it on Friday, attendance declined significantly since families left town on a long weekend.
Grades four through seven went from 9 to 11:30 a.m., and grades eight and nine went from 12:30 to 3 p.m. Some might think that two-and-a-half hours is too much for grade-schoolers, but it was never an issue. Having the eighth and ninth graders during the early afternoon worked extremely well and gave us plenty of time to cover many areas of the game that we felt they needed to be exposed to.
What facilities can we use?We were fortunate to have outstanding camp facilities at the high school. During the morning sessions, we had a field house that had two full-sized courts side by side, and each court had six baskets — it was a perfect camp facility.
For the afternoon sessions, we had use of our main gym right across the hallway from the field house. I have worked camps were facilities were not adequate for the number of campers present, and this is a factor you must consider for your own event.
What’s the cost?We kept the cost of the camp as low as possible. I was not interested in making money for myself. In fact, I never paid myself a penny.
What I wanted was to make our attendance as high as possible. My goal was to have an outstanding basketball program at the school, and that meant reaching the highest number of kids. The community was a low- to middle-income area, so it was critical that I didn’t price them out of the camp. Learn about the makeup of your own community before setting a price.
Who will coach?I typically had a staff of five coaches, including myself. Most years, I was fortunate enough to have three coaches work the camp who were on my staff at the high school, plus one capable junior high coach.
I paid the coaches as much as I could, because the overall quality of a camp is determined by the staff that’s working it.
What’s the format?When it comes to the format, that varies greatly based on the philosophy of the head varsity coach. The fundamentals taught and the drills used should be relatively similar throughout the program.
For our fourth- to seventh-graders, we set up stations where they worked on shooting fundamentals (jump shot, layups), dribbling skills, passing and catching, perimeter skills, post skills, rebounding, and defense. We then did some full-court group work (passing, catching, dribbling, fast break) before transitioning to half-court games of 3-on-3 and 4-on-4. We would finish with full-court games.
We invited and encouraged parents of campers to arrive with 15 minutes left in the camp. We did this so we could tell them and show them the drills that we completed that day in camp. We received a lot of great feedback from parents on this.
During the afternoon session with eighth- and ninth-graders, we basically ran a typical high school practice. We started with offensive improvement — shooting, ball handling, passing and catching, post and perimeter work, free-throw shooting. We then did fast-break drills, rebounding drills and man-to-man defensive drills. We followed with half-court games and the basic offense of our program against man-to-man defense. We finished with full-court scrimmages.
How do I advertise?If you’re going to run a basketball camp, it’s extremely important to have multiple ways to advertise or disseminate information to prospective campers.
I was able to get an announcement in both of our local newspapers starting in early April, and I asked them to run it as often as they could. I would run off about 1,000 brochures and drop some off at the junior highs and grade schools in the area. I would take others and drop them off at the park district. The announcement in the newspaper would mention that the brochures were at the schools and the park district.
Interested campers also could contact me, and I would mail a brochure.
Once we had run the camp for a few years, I would mail a couple brochures to campers who attended during previous summers. I also contacted the local AAU programs to get names and addresses of potential campers. It was a lot of work, but it’s essential if want to get the attendance that you desire.
Will I make money?We never lost money on the camp; most years, we broke even. Each camper left with a basketball camp T-shirt, a camp basketball and a packet of drills they could work on during the offseason for individual improvement.
What’s the purpose?Here’s a shortlist of reasons for why we created a summer youth basketball camp:
- Create interest in the basketball program.
- Provide quality instruction on basic basketball fundamentals.
- Introduce the philosophy of our basketball program to campers and community.
- Have players come in contact with the high school basketball staff.
- Demonstrate to players, parents and the community that the staff is dedicated and willing to put in the work needed to have a quality program.
- Introduce eighth- and ninth-graders to our offensive and defensive systems.
- Create a positive learning experience for the campers.
Before you start running a summer basketball camp, make sure you put in the necessary thought and preparation about what you want to accomplish. I know that each school, program and community is unique, but hopefully some of the ideas help you get off to a fast start.
Don Kloth is the sophomore basketball coach at Warren Township High School (Illinois) and is the all-time winningest varsity coach at Lake County High School (Illinois).
basketball, summer camp
6 Tips For Hosting A Successful Camp
- By Joe Haefner
With basketball camp season approaching, it's crucial you are getting ready for your basketball camps.
Here are some helpful tips to hosting a successful basketball camp...
Make the camp purpose clear!
What are you trying to accomplish with your basketball camps? Is it to just have fun and create a passion for the game? Is it to have an intense skill development camp for serious players?
If you don't make this clear in your camp information, you can get players and parents who will not enjoy the experience because they're looking for something different. Younger players (typically 12 years and younger) need to be exposed to fun camps to build the passion for the game. While advanced kids who are ready for the next step, might prefer a more intense basketball camp.
Be organized
Being unorganized can be the death of a successful basketball camp, especially if you are new to hosting camps.
It's vital that you know the size of the gym, how many hoops there are going to be, how many campers are going to be present, how many coaches are going to be there, what your camp schedule is going to be, and some back up drills and skills in case you get through things quicker or you need to abandon a drill that isn't working well.
If you figure these things out ahead of time, you'll look like a seasoned vet.
Use drills that keep everybody involved.
Nothing drives a kid to boredom quicker, stunts player development, and prevents parents from signing their child up for your next camp than standing around doing nothing.
Even if it is a drill that requires one player to do the drill at a time, have them be involved in rebounding and passing. If there are too many kids, set up stations that allow you to keep more kids involved at once.
Taking the time to develop drills that keep kids active and parents happy will lead to more happy campers and more campers returning to your next camp.
Teach skills and drills that players can do at home.
Your goal for every camp should be to teach players skills and drills that every child could do at home or at the local gym.
Players and parents will appreciate you a lot more if you show them how to become better players beyond the days at your basketball camp.
Keep the camp moving.
Just like a practice, you shouldn't spend too long on any particular drill. Otherwise, you will lose interest and intensity from the players at your camp.
Even if you still want to work on the same skill, just use a different drill or a different format of the same drill. For example, you might want to work on form shooting. An easy way to keep working on that would be to vary between wall shooting, partner shooting, line shooting, backboard shooting, and shooting at the goal.
The younger they are, the quicker you usually need to progress to another drill. I try to keep all drills under 10 minutes. Typically, my goal is 5 to 7 minutes.
Incorporate character development
A quality camp isn't just about developing basketball players, it's also about developing these young people into successful adults. Incorporate things such as attitude, hard work, loyalty, and kindness into your camps.
Parents will appreciate you helping their children become better people. And when the children become adults, they'll appreciate you as well.
What do you think? Let us know by leaving your comments, suggestions, and questions...
Pro Hoops Playground Camp.
November 2-4, Playground Moscow
November 2-4 / Moscow
The American company Pro Hoops in close cooperation with Playground Moscow will hold an intensive training camp for boys from 12 to 23 years old.
Senior Camp Coach - Ross Burns
(Athletic Director of Pro Hoops, USA)
Ross Burns graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 1999, where he played under John Calipari. NCAA Final Four 19 participant96 years old, played in March Madness three times.
At the end of his career as a player for 7 seasons he worked as a coach in the colleges of the First division of the NCAA (Wagner College, Youngstown State, Fordham University).
Since 2006 partnered with Pro Hoops, specializing in individual work with the strongest players and coordinating the company's global projects.
Camp Workout Program
The camp program consists of intensive American style workouts used by trainers PRO HOOPS , headquartered in New York, has one of the strongest personal development programs in the US for NBA players (Kemba Walker, Joaquim Noah, Zach Lavigne, JJ Reddick, Mike Dunleavy Jr., etc.). ), as well as students and amateurs preparing for a professional career.
Training is aimed at improving the level, technical and functional capabilities of the players.
Friday, November 2
13:00 - Opening Intro/Expectations
13:10 Warm-Up/Activation/Ball Handling
13:25 - Full Court Transition
13:40 - Skill Development (4 groups x 12 mins)
15:00 - Games
16:00 - Summary & Schedule
Saturday, November 3
09:00 - Opening
09:05 - Activation
09:20 - Combine Testing (Water breaks in between testing)
10:20 - Ball Handling
10:30 - Skill Development
11:00 - Games
12:00 - Summary & Schedule
12:15 - 13:30 Lunch w/ Segment on Nutrition
13:30 - Guest Speaker: Ross Burns
14:00 - Ball Handling Competition
14:15 - Skill Development (4 groups x 12 mins)
14:45 - Competitive Shooting Games
15:00 - Games
16:00 - Summary & Schedule
Sunday, November 4th
09:00 - Opening
09:05 - Activation/Ball Handling
09:20 - Full Court Transition
09:35 - Skill Development
10:45 - Games
11:45 - Closing Ceremony
How to train in Pro Hoops
Camp Features
Pro Hoops has ongoing partnerships with the NBA, NBPA and a number of top basketball agencies.
Professional training
3 days of intensive training with Pro Hoops and Playground trainers.
Attention and support
Work in small groups, with constant monitoring of actions by the trainer and the possibility of "feedback".
Individual approach
Creation of an individual dossier for each athlete, including videos, test results and competitions.
Tracking progress and individual recommendations from camp coaches.
Safety
Work under the supervision of professionally trained medical staff.
Exchange of experience
Communication with former and current professional players.
Bonuses
Exclusive sportswear for participants. Individual awards in various nominations, certificates for all participants.
Dmitry Materansky about the PRO HOOPS camp and its head coach
Each participant of the camp will get a chance to show and attract the attention of a top American coach, and possibly go to study and develop his career in the best basketball league in the world!
Cost of participation
There is always a choice - to stay in your comfort zone and be content with mediocre results or start training with the best who will take you to a new, previously unattainable level.
Grow with us!
RUB 19,900
Payment can be divided into two payments. The second part of the payment must be made by November 2.
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For a minor child, only a legal representative (parent, adoptive parent or guardian) can submit an application. Teenagers and young men from 12 to 23 years old (boys and girls) can take part in the camp.
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In Striving, each child receives a sufficient amount of attention from the coach, which allows him to reveal his potential on the one hand and not let him lose interest in the absence of high sports achievements, on the other.![]()
Our own sports philosophy
Children can go to basketball camps throughout the year. We have several directions, so you can choose how your child will spend these ten days - cool rest and have fun in the Active shift or pump powerfully in the PRO and SUPERPRO shifts
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Game experience is very important for every basketball player.
We created our own basketball league so that our aspirants could get game practice, learn how to interact in a team and reach a new level.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Need to study.
In basketball, there are positions that are often played by small players. But that's not the point. We believe that every person can achieve everything he sincerely wants, if, of course, he is hardworking and patient enough. Yes, and at a young age, basketball is useful for general development to engage in all the children who are interested in it. After all, he greatly develops the child, both from the physiological side, and teaches children to work in a team and overcome difficulties.
We are ardent opponents of selection in sports. We believe that everything has its time, that each person reveals himself in different ways. Someone shows good results from the very beginning, but someone needs a little more time to adapt and understand what exactly he wants. Therefore, it makes no sense to select at an early age. Yes, and our program is designed to work on an equal footing with children of different ages, levels of training and skills.
It is possible and necessary. There are many examples of Great athletes who started their professional career quite late and at the same time became great athletes, world champions, Olympic Games.
But again, that's not the point. The main thing is that each person should do what he likes. And we want to give kids a chance at this age to learn what basketball is and love it.
We cover all school age. Also in our club there are centers that specialize in working with children from 3 years old. There are cases when children at the age of 5-6 study in a group with the first - second class and feel very comfortable.
Yes, there are centers in our club where adults train. We believe that it is necessary to continue playing sports, and in particular basketball, all your life. We don't have phenomenal physical activity. A complete workout at a moderate intensity level. An interesting warm-up combined with stretching and coordination of movements. A full-fledged block for the study of technical elements and, of course, the game. We have quite a lot in the adult group of parents of children who study with us. Inspired by the success and desire of children to study, parents also light up and begin to study this exciting game with us.
