There are a variety of reasons to attend and pick a particular gymnastics camp. There are also reasons why you might not want to attend a gymnastics summer camp that you may not be aware of. This article points them out to you. #1 - Fully Support Your Own Gym It seems apparent that many parents do not fully realize the implications of not fully supporting their own gym's summer program. To put it in perspective, for the price paid for every two gymnasts attending a commercial gymnastics summer camp, your gym could purchase a piece of training equipment that your gymnasts could be using year round. It is also highly unlikely that gymnasts will find a coach at any summer camp more committed to their progress and success than they will find in their own gym. Money spent on a summer camp might be better spent on private lessons from your own coach. We seriously recommend that no parent or gymnast pay to attend any summer camp without fully supporting (and paying for) their own gym's summer program. #2 - Why Build Your Competitor's Program? We have to wonder sometimes about the wisdom of choosing to attend (and financially support) a summer camp run by a team you may face in the upcoming competition season. There are certainly reasons to attend summer camps, but you might find it wise to attend a camp where you won't be paying the coaches' salaries, buying equipment or buying leotards for a team you are competing against in a meet. #3 - Extreme Sports Culture - Not! We have to tell you that after years of sending our gymnasts (and our own daughters) to a commercial gymnastics camp, we stopped doing so when the camp began simultaneously running extreme sports camps. There is no way we wanted our young daughters and gymnasts exposed in even a very limited way to the very "different" culture, attitudes and mores (morals) of the boys and men involved in those sports, especially when we were not around. You can make your own decision. #4 - Shop on Price We are seeing an interesting trend that the camps with the most qualified directors and coaches (gyms currently producing Elite gymnasts) are less expensive than the huge commercial gymnastics camps. There are obviously other differences in the camps, but if quality coaching is your goal, then you might look at camps run by Elite level coaches. #5 - How Many Gymnasts? This question is somewhat like the question of what size college to attend - a small gymnastics camp will allow your gymnast to become personally known and work with all of the coaching staff. You will want to carefully consider how well your gymnast will fit in and adapt to a huge camp with hundreds of gymnasts and if they will get noticed in the crowd. |
