Parents SUMMER camps

[Fijiwater]

What is the value of going to a gymnastics summer camp? Has anyone here sent their child to one? What were your thoughts? worth the money or not?

 

[krisnkids]

Years ago I paid a large amount for my level 4 gymmie to go to a prestigous camp in southern California. A coach from the olympic team was going to be there working with girls on beam and my gymmie excelled at beam and their bar coach was extremely well known so I said why not, maybe she will get the kip that she is so closed to getting.
Well she went and lets just say it was the biggest waste of time and money I have ever done. She worked once with the olympic team coach and it wasn't on beam. The great bar coach picked 3 girls out of her group to work with, she wasn't one of them. I spoke to the coordinator about it 1/2 way through the week and her response was "Well she got all the way to the top of the rope today! That's awesome". My response to the coordinator was, "She's been climbing to the top of the rope since she was 4".
There are some awesome camps out there that expose gymmies to new things and that's great. However, I wouldn't send my gymmie to camp again with the hopes that she would get a new skill.

 

[bogwoppit]

Summer camps are all about FUN. You do not really send your child to camp to get new skills. But it can help build the passion for the sport, make friends for life (my girls still are in touch with camp friends they met years ago) and they will meet kids from all over the globe. My girls did camps from age 7 until last year, so seven years each, and they both loved their experiences. BUt I never expected them to get new skills, just to enjoy camp and learning about independence,

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

Agree with Bog, completely. My two attended IGC for several years. They loved it but last year Little Monkey decided she didn't want to spend 2 weeks away from practice, so she opted not to go to "fun" camp anymore.

 

[Fijiwater]

The reason I ask is because we can have fun for alot less money...but i guess the experience could be good for their maturation.

 

[cbifoja]

Bella went to Flip Fest when she was a young 7. She went by herself. Gymnastically, she learned a few skills, some decent, some not. She met a lot of neat people. Got to hang with Carly Patterson because she was hurt for a couple of days and couldn't do full workouts.

She had a lot of fun, spent a lot of my money at the canteen, and got a new leo.

She earned some of the money through a bake sale in conjunction with a yard sale I was holding. She also used christmas and birthday money to help have some ownership in the cost of the camp.

She got TERRIBLY homesick and there were some issues about her being allowed to call home. But she ate a lot of camp food and giggled a lot and lost a lot of outfits, towels, and even a leo. LOL

She did not go back last summer. And then she shocked me by asking if she could go to Flip Fest this summer (she will have just turned 9). I talked to her coach and instead, coach has arranged to take a group of our girls up to Woodward with her to supervise their training.

I like that a lot better!

 

[sglemon]

My dd group of friends are starting to pressure me about a camp this summer, they have the dates planned out. The camp most of our girls at the gym go to is one held through a college gymnastics team. The coaches and the gymnasts work with the girls, along with some guest coaches, no Olympians. It is 1/2 price of the big fun camps, and last only 4 1/2 days. The girls spend all day in the gym, and when they do come back to practice, they are showing off their new, level appropriate skills, like fly aays, BHS on beam, etc... The are some fun evening activities, like a talent show, etc...

you may want to look into local college gymnastics programs and see if they offer camps, you will get more bang for your buck, gymnastics wise.

 

[JBS]

Yes...for fun...totally worth it.

 

[2G1B]

All 3 of my kids are going to Flip Fest this summer. They are very excited about it. I think that DS is most excited about paint ball though. I do worry about my youngest DD. She will be turning 7 at the end of March and will be going to camp early June - so she will be a very young 7. Luckily, she will have her brother and sister there.

I'm hoping that at a minimum, the hours in the gym will help them with their conditioning. It is more hours than they would spend at practice in the week if they were home. But mostly, I want them to have lots of fun.

 

[Quadqueen]

All 3 of my kids are going to Flip Fest this summer. They are very excited about it. I think that DS is most excited about paint ball though. I do worry about my youngest DD. She will be turning 7 at the end of March and will be going to camp early June - so she will be a very young 7. Luckily, she will have her brother and sister there.

I'm hoping that at a minimum, the hours in the gym will help them with their conditioning. It is more hours than they would spend at practice in the week if they were home. But mostly, I want them to have lots of fun.

I agree, it should be all about the fun. I will say that even though they may be "in the gym" more hours than they would if they were at regular practice, it's not always "productive." My DD went to camp last year and she said they didn't condition AT ALL the whole week, and she was worried she would be tired and sore when she went back to practice!!

 

[krisnkids]

All 3 of my kids are going to Flip Fest this summer. They are very excited about it. I think that DS is most excited about paint ball though. I do worry about my youngest DD. She will be turning 7 at the end of March and will be going to camp early June - so she will be a very young 7. Luckily, she will have her brother and sister there.

I'm hoping that at a minimum, the hours in the gym will help them with their conditioning. It is more hours than they would spend at practice in the week if they were home. But mostly, I want them to have lots of fun.

I'm sure you youngest will be fine. My youngest dd went to camp at 6, didn't turn 7 til that September. She did more things than the older kids did, including going down a zipline from 3 stories! lol

 

[my4buffaloes]

It can be but not for the reasons you think. I went as a cabin mom to Woodward and it was an awesome experience for the girls to be away from home. They learned responsibility, time management, decision making, etc - life lessons. Well except for the girl whose parents stayed 5 minutes down the road and popped in constantly. By the end of the week she was no longer sleeping in the cabin and only came to camp for the mandatory workout. She didn't learn many life lessons.

 

[GymBee97]

both my kids have gone to gym summer camp and loved every moment of it. They go to have fun doing things they like with others of a like mind. They go for FUN just like anyone who goes to any camp. they do get to do gym for much of the day at the ones my kids go to. They get coaching from coaches other than the ones they are use to and almost always come home with a new skill achieved. A different approach is always a good thing. They get to sleep over and have a ball with other gymnasts.
I've paid as much as $1000 for a week per kid for summer gym camp and my kids have loved every moment. It's really all about the memories and the fun like a camp should be.

 

[mimi]

My daughter has gone to both IGC and a university camp in our area. She loved both, and as someone else mentioned, it really seemed to bring out even more passion for the sport. No expectations for big skills, we were just thrilled for her to have experiences and memories she will cherish in years to come. The positivity at the camps was just wonderful, and she came home charged up and ready to train even harder!

 

[gwenmom]

Nothing really to add because my DD is attending her first camp this summer. It's a Pac 12 college gymnastic camp and her teammates are all going to the same session.

 

[srsjbs]

This will be our first summer doing a gymnastics camp. My DD is 6, will be barely 7, when camp starts. She is going to the University of Nebraska one. It was the closest one to us and it's still 10 hours away. I've heard good things about it, and I'm hopeful it will be a fun experience for her I have no dreams of her coming home with huge skills, I just want her to be able to spend time with kids in her age group that have the same of the sport that she does. Our gym is very, very small and she is the youngest on the team by a full 3 years.

 

[2G1B]

I talked to our HC today about it. He used to coach at Flip Fest and one of our boys' coaches did too. They both said that one of the best things about these summer camps is that the kids come back even more excited about gymnastics than before camp.

 

[lhmom]

DD is going to Flip Fest this summer with some of her teammates. Mainly because she is begging to go but we are not looking at this as going for the purpose of gaining new skills. I see it more of a bonding experience with teammates and a chance to have even more fun in a gymnastics setting. She's really excited!

 

[3gymgirls]

This will be our first summer doing a gymnastics camp. My DD is 6, will be barely 7, when camp starts. She is going to the University of Nebraska one. It was the closest one to us and it's still 10 hours away. I've heard good things about it, and I'm hopeful it will be a fun experience for her I have no dreams of her coming home with huge skills, I just want her to be able to spend time with kids in her age group that have the same of the sport that she does. Our gym is very, very small and she is the youngest on the team by a full 3 years.

We're talking about sending our oldest to that one also.

 

[flippysmom]

My daughter's gym is taking a group to the National Gymnastics Training Camp in NY. Does anyone have any experiences with this camp?

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