Camp Question

[Muddlethru]

This thread has shed some new light on sleep away camps. My 9 yo has been begging to go to a sleep away gymnastics camp. She will probably be fine and I feel can handle being away for a full week without her parents. But like MaryA for the amount I had seen summer camps are charging, I wanted to make certain the camp she will be going to would teach her a new skill, strengthen or fine tune the skills she already has or at a minimum come home more conditioned. But after reading this thread, I realize these camps are truly fun inspired and I think that it should probably be. It is summer and the kids do need a break. I am glad for everyone's insight on this subject because if I had let my DD go with the expectations I had, I would have been disappointed and my Dd might have sensed my disappointment and would have felt bad. Now, if I send my DD, I am more open minded and it will be a positive experience for both of us as I have lesser gymnastics expectations.

Many posters have said you cannot learn new skills within a week. I wonder if this is necessarily true. The TOPS gymnastics camp is only for 4 days and the kids come home stronger and armed with new skills. They also have the developmental invitational camps that are 3 to 4 days long. Granted they are held at the National Training Center and conducted by Olympic/national coaches, but it would seem to me that week long summer camps can have significant gymnastics benefits. I am certain USAG has found it beneficial with significant results to gymnasts who attend these 4 day long TOPS camps and developmental camps otherwise they would not conduct them. Having said that, are there any summer camps that are more gymnastics training/conditioning oriented?

 

[maryRS]

Yes I understand that and agree. My daughter went to IGC last year for a week. I didn't expect her to come back with any new or huge skills but I did hope that she at least got something out of it gym wise. Of course it was an overall experience that was more than just gymnastics, she goes to a day camp which is varied and all around outdoorsy - this was different, it is a gymnastic camp.

Now this is where I will say I was not happy at all that she spent over $80 on junk food - honestly I think she spent about $30 on Skittles! I put $$ in her canteen, told her to buy a shirt or leo or something. I know they are overpriced there but I was kind of hoping she'd use the money on something like that. Nope she spent every last penny on junk food! LOL

My good parent side agrees that camp should be for fun (and to make new friends and to become more independant and all of those good things), and they go to gymnastics camp because to them gymnastics is fun. Period.

The paying-$850 side of me wants her to come back... not necessarily with a new skill... but having progressed in gymnastics in some way. (this is the side of me that I'm less proud of, but heck, I feel like you people at CB know me well enough that I can admit to my "dark side") I certainly understand the frustration of a coach who has to "unteach" something they learned at camp. I'm glad that our team coaches are coming twice during the week (nice to have a gymnastics camp practically in your own back yard) to work with the girls on the team during open gym times.

Last year when I visited Woodward, Kathy took me to one of the small trees that border the parking lot to show me a particular type of bug that lived on that tree, and I thought "Maybe she'd be better off at a nature camp off in the woods somewhere!" Not that I was thinking "Why is she looking at bugs when she should be doing gymnastics???" but more "If she wants to look at bugs, there are probably better camps for that! And they probably cost less than $850!" But no, she's dying to go back to Woodward!

Her camp mom from last year at Woodward posts on here and will attest to Kathy's love of bugs. I believe Kathy operated a "live catch and release" program for all bugs discovered in the cabin. And she probably named them before she let them go.

 

[Sunobo]

My good parent side agrees that camp should be for fun (and to make new friends and to become more independant and all of those good things), and they go to gymnastics camp because to them gymnastics is fun. Period.

The paying-$850 side of me wants her to come back... not necessarily with a new skill... but having progressed in gymnastics in some way. (this is the side of me that I'm less proud of, but heck, I feel like you people at CB know me well enough that I can admit to my "dark side") I certainly understand the frustration of a coach who has to "unteach" something they learned at camp.

I agree with this. Last year my dd went to IGC and it cost $850 for a week (IGC increased their rate this year to $970) so I had certain expectations about what would go on. She had struggled though a year at level 5 and I didn't expect her to get any new skills at camp but I expected her to work on her current skills and hopefully improve them. She has back tumbling issues and will do the skills but needs the comfort of a coach on the floor. Anyway, they put her in a group of current/new level 4's. She spent the week working on pull overs, mill circles, shoot throughs, vaults onto the table not over it, handsprings on a wedge, ect. Needless to say, her skills didn't improve any especially since she had spent 3 years as a level 4. I was happy with all the other aspects of the camp but it wasn't worth the amount of money I paid for the gymnastics part.

To the original poster, only you know your child and what they are able to handle. My dd was 11 when she went to camp and I don't think she would have been able to do it at a younger age. Even at 11, she felt better going with a friend.

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

4theloveofsports:

My take on it is this- the TOPS camps are ENTIRELY different than IGC and Woodward. I think gymnastics is the main focus but not 100% of the focus- they also are summer camps- with other recreation opportunities.

1.) Kids are chosen- picked out of a crowd for the TOPS camps- any kid with any skill level can go to IGC, Woodward, etc.

2.) The child to staff ratio is much much smaller at the TOPS camps and the training is much more intense with much higher stakes and higher expected outcomes

3.) Plain and simple people need to understand that- yes Sally will be getting 6+ hours of gymnastics coaching and instruction a day if she goes to Woodward, IGC, etc but it is NOT anywhere near the rigourous coaching and instruction girls get at the TOPS camps

 

[gym law mom]

I think the expectation of what may be learned related to gymnastics will vary alot with each child also. Some work hard every minute they're in the gym and go to all the open gyms offered and others do the minimum and spend more time doing "other camp activites." I know my gymmie loves camp because of the overall quality of the coaches she has worked with and their ability to spot her on high level skills. Sometimes it just helps to have a fresh pair of eyes look at a skill and find that one little thing that needs correcting. Is that to say we send her with any expectations of getting some big new skill? Absolutely not. Most years she has made some progress on 1 or 2 skills she was already working on, but I would never say she "got" a new skill at camp.

As for the "camps" that the TOPS/develpment team kids go to, that is a totally different animal. They go with their coaches, the time is very structured and they have members of the national training staff there working with them. They don't come home with new skills either. They may come home with some new drills or progressions to work on(more with the developmental team), but a whole new bars or beam skill---nope.

 

[NGL780309]

I think the expectation of what may be learned related to gymnastics will vary alot with each child also. Some work hard every minute they're in the gym and go to all the open gyms offered and others do the minimum and spend more time doing "other camp activites." I know my gymmie loves camp because of the overall quality of the coaches she has worked with and their ability to spot her on high level skills. Sometimes it just helps to have a fresh pair of eyes look at a skill and find that one little thing that needs correcting. Is that to say we send her with any expectations of getting some big new skill? Absolutely not. Most years she has made some progress on 1 or 2 skills she was already working on, but I would never say she "got" a new skill at camp.

As for the "camps" that the TOPS/develpment team kids go to, that is a totally different animal. They go with their coaches, the time is very structured and they have members of the national training staff there working with them. They don't come home with new skills either. They may come home with some new drills or progressions to work on(more with the developmental team), but a whole new bars or beam skill---nope.

I was going to respond about the TOPS camp comparison, but you beat me to it. Just wanted to also say that those camps are nothing like summer camps. And the goal is not to go and get new skills. Even at the National Team camps they are not going to learn new skills.

The only way I can imagine a kid getting a new skill at summer camp is if it's a skill they have already been working hard on and somebody saying something different is helpful to them in achieving that last step to put it all together. Nobody goes to camp and comes back with a totally new skill that they have never done before.

 

[Muddlethru]

I do agree with all the posters above that TOPS and the developmental camps are very different from each other. One of the major differences being being the goal in TOPS camp is to better the gymnast and train the coaches. And the schedule/training is obviously more intense. Where as summer camps the fun factor is more important. It is a summer camp after all. I get that. I reread the thread and I think I must have responded in the wrong thread or I might have mixed two different threads together!?! I can no longer find the post that made me bring TOPS up. Oh well.

 

[Bajanswife]

I wanted to point out that a child might come back from a camp with a new skill, but it's likely to be a skill they would have gotten right away in their own gym anyway, if they'd been allowed to try it. There are some skills that just click right away with a gymnast, but they would click right away in their own gym or another. For my DD that would have been a cast to squat on or a FHS. It is hard to judge how much a particular camp might have contributed to the learning of a particular skill. I suppose it may be possible for a particular camp coach to put something across to a struggling gymnast in a way that causes a breakthrough, but I don't think it can be the expectation.

 

[MaryA]

I do agree with all the posters above that TOPS and the developmental camps are very different from each other. One of the major differences being being the goal in TOPS camp is to better the gymnast and train the coaches. And the schedule/training is obviously more intense. Where as summer camps the fun factor is more important. It is a summer camp after all. I get that. I reread the thread and I think I must have responded in the wrong thread or I might have mixed two different threads together!?! I can no longer find the post that made me bring TOPS up. Oh well.

No, I think someone brought up that TOPS camps are 4-5 days and that kids often come back with new skills. You weren't confused...

 

[emorymom]

There are "team camps" that are day camps. That can be a good family vacation if your DD wants to do a gymnastics camp somewhere else.