Each year, thousands, if not tens of thousands of youngsters, head off to a sports camp. These venues offer a valuable experience to children and teens—a sort of modern “coming-of-age” event geared towards learning and maintaining an active lifestyle.
“Camps are a great opportunity for youth to be exposed to different sports,” says Jonathan Solomon of the Aspen Institute, a multi-disciplinary non-government organization dedicated to the advancement of various social institutions, including youth camps. Solomon is one of the institute’s experts, having overseen studies into the camp experience on its behalf.
“Too often, children specialize in one sport at a young age,” he continues. “This increases the risk of burnout and overuse injuries. Camps can be a fun, engaging way to play sports they like and learn new ones. Don’t rush children into one sport at a young age before they’ve grown into their bodies, minds, and interests.”
As for what parents should look for in a camp, Solomon explains, “It depends on what your child wants out of the experience. Ask your child. Make sure you really listen to them. Some kids may want a highly competitive camp experience. For most kids, find a camp that teaches developmentally appropriate sports skills and keeps it fun.”
He says camps should be a source of enjoyment for kids, rather than a job. Where costs and other circumstances allow, Solomon suggests signing kids up to attend camps alongside their friends.
Legacy Sports camps
Chad Miller, CEO of Legacy Sports USA, says his organization offers a wide range of camps, from ninja warrior to pickleball, and every sport in between.
The organization’s camps mostly serve campers from local communities, but it does partner with some third-party camps which host individuals from all over the country, especially for sports like soccer and gymnastics.
“We offer a wide variety of camps during every school holiday break,”
says Miller. “From themed gymnastics camps to elite sports camps, we have options for all age ranges and skill levels to keep kids learning and growing during their school breaks.”
Legacy Sports USA opened a new facility in East Mesa, Ariz., in 2022 and it serves as a case study of the impact the organization has. Miller describes this camp as a “one-stop shop,” where families can spend the entire day, which cuts down on the sense of isolation and homesickness kids may feel when going away to camp.
Miller says the East Mesa facility fits with the mission of Legacy Cares, a non-profit organization under Legacy Sports’ umbrella aimed at providing athletes and non-athletes alike of all ages and backgrounds the opportunity to participate in sports. The charity’s goal is to foster the enjoyment and camaraderie of teamwork as well as perseverance, key components for both athletic competition and lifetime success.
2-4-1 Care camps
The non-profit organization 2-4-1 Care aims to help build confidence in young athletes by helping them to quickly learn the rules of different sports through its camps. Its youth sports programs teach children and teens to be creative with equipment and space so they can take those lessons into their everyday lives to organize themselves and their friends into games wherever they are.
Stephen Boyle, co-founder and executive director of 2-4-1 CARE, says his group’s camps are “sport-sampling” in nature, offering experiences with fencing, running, lacrosse, baseball, softball, and more. This adds up to more than 50 weeks of programming across North America and beyond, come the summer.
Locations of 2-4-1 camps can be found in cities across its home state of Connecticut, as well as in Denver and Boulder, Colo.; Philadelphia; Charlotte, N.C.; Boise, Idaho; Vancouver, Canada; and even Zambia in Africa.
“We expect to reach over 5,000 children in 2023,” says Boyle. “While we started as a small mom-and-pop summer camp in 2008 and were mainly known as 2-4-1 Sports, we became a non-profit in 2021 and are now known as 2-4-1 CARE. Now, 2-4-1 Sports is just one of our many signature programs. We typically serve children from kindergarten to Grade 9, but we have done pre-kindergarten and high school programming over the years and also have run adult track meets.”
Boyle says now that they are now a worldwide organization, they draw from a “global community.”
“Even our summer camps in West Hartford, Conn., and Denver, Colo., get attendees from many foreign countries. We have always grown in local markets by word of mouth, but in 2014, when we were recognized by the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C. as one of one model programs in the United States, our growth really accelerated.”
As to why parents should consider 2-4-1 Care camps, Boyle says, “We put play back into sports and give sports back to the kids. We remind parents that sports are meant to be played and in doing so, give kids the skills to self-organize and use available numbers, space, and equipment to play like generations before them did.”
Boyle continues, “Sports have become adult driven and hyper-instructive and feel too much like work. We want kids to be active for life and if their first experience with sports isn’t an enjoyable one, we may lose them forever. Our camps and programs are known for their fun and it’s why we have grown so much. We build in leadership development and the skills of social-emotional learning, as we feel sports are the most authentic setting for fostering both.”
Boyle says the organization’s motto “Life’s 2 Short 4 Just 1 Sport” is more than a catchy tagline—it is the basis for everything they believe in.
“We are meant to be at play year-long and life-long,” says Boyle. “We want to honor the days when ‘just be home by dark’ was pronounced every afternoon by parents living in neighborhoods like ours. We formed 2-4-1 CARE so we could bring this approach to play directly to the communities and neighborhoods we serve.”
He goes on: “The past two decades of youth athletics have transformed sports from playing a game to planning your future. We live in an era of fear and exclusivity. Children’s play is now controlled by adults.”
Too many people, says Boyle, seem to believe the only way to play professionally, in college, or even in high school, is to play one sport—and only that sport—year-round.
“At 2-4-1, all of our staff not only believe in the value of multi-sport participation—we live it,” Boyle says. “We know from personal experience that there are many advantages to playing multiple sports: reduced injuries, reduced burnout, increased speed and quickness, increased competitiveness, and—yes—an increase in production and appreciation of your favorite sport. It’s OK to have a favorite, just not the only one.”
