Breaking Into and Succeeding as Sports Camp Director, Starting Sports Camp
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Sports Camp Director-Owner
Sports Camp Business Owner
Breaking Into and Succeeding as a Sports Camp Director-Owner
How to Start a Sports Camp Business
Starting a Sports Camp without Any Experience
To get an idea of the sports camp director’s economic territory, we can look at the U.S. Census, which defines the category “Sports and Recreation Instruction” as comprising “establishments, such as camps and schools, primarily engaged in offering instruction in athletic activities to groups of individuals. Overnight and day sports instruction camps are included in this industry.”
The Industry Statistics Sampler for Sports and Recreation Instruction tells us that the number of establishments grew from about 6,500 in 1997 to about 9,000 in 2002, with revenue jumping from $1.4 billion to $2.4 billion over those 5 years. The majority of that revenue (about $2.3 billion) came from: tuition, fees, and other payments from providing academic or technical instruction, which should come as no surprise. These numbers get broken down into establishments exempt from income tax, such as church-run and charity establishments, and those more commercial establishments that are subject to income tax.
So as of 2002, Sports and Recreation Instruction had become a multi-billion dollar industry with plenty of career opportunities to go around. As of 2004, employment in the category of “athletes, coaches, umpires, and related workers: “was projected to experience growth of 29,000 or 18% by the year 2012: “Opportunities for coaches and instructors should be abundant at high schools and at the amateur level as school athletic programs grow and as the public places a higher value on fitness.”
Brief History of Sports Camps
It’s tough to pinpoint when the phenomenon of sports camps first got started. Certainly these establishments have been around awhile. Camp Awosting (Morris, Connecticut) claims the title of oldest private boys summer camp, having been in operation since 1900. It isn’t exactly a sports camp, however; it’s more of a basic all-around outdoor activity camp. But it establishes a model that would be followed by the first sports camps, one of which is Greylock. Founded in 1916, it has the prestigious description of “one of the oldest general sports residential camps in the United States.”
As with most things active, outdoorsy, or sports-like, these camps began as a boys-only phenomenon. But the field would become co-ed soon enough. Merestead Sports Camps, a field hockey and lacrosse establishment since 1946, is proud of being “home of the oldest sports camp for girls in the US.” And Camp Courage, a basketball camp begun in 1970 by Coach Orwell Moore, owner of the famous All American Red Heads (one of the first professional women’s basketball teams) and running for about nine years, is said to have possibly been the first co-ed sports camp, although it was mostly attended by girls. Some sources however, say it was a girls’ camp, so the jury’s still out on that one.
After those camps that focused on professional sports in the United States came other camps teaching less mainstream sports: martial arts, yoga, horseback riding, and more. Today, every sport you can think of and some you didn’t even realize were sports, has a camp where youngsters or even adults can receive training.
This means that you don’t have to be a fan of the NFL or a full-contact player to start a career as a sports camp instructor or director. What activities do you like to participate in? Chances are, there’s a thriving category of sports and recreational camps that offer instruction in those activities. Why wait any longer to get involved?
Did you know that sports camps can be held in the winter as well as in the summer? It’s true, in fact, it can be held all-year long.
You don’t even have to move to the southern hemisphere to start a sports camp in December, either. Some sports are naturally cold-weather pastimes, such as ice skating, ice hockey, snowboarding, downhill skiing, and cross-country skiing. Even if you dislike chilly weather, you can run an indoor sports camp during the winter holidays without breaking a sweat.
A lot of traditional sports are held or can be held in indoor gymnasiums: basketball, kickball, dodgeball, volleyball, badminton, even field hockey. And there’s a world of less mainstream sports that can be held inside, such as basic fitness training, yoga, martial arts, even rock-climbing! And of course if you live in an area where summer days are best spent indoors, such as the Gulf Coast or the Southwest desert climes, you might try running a sports camp which focuses on a traditionally summer sport during the more hospitable days of winter.
Sports and Faith
Did you know how many religious sports camps there are out there? You might think that beyond the “Hail Mary Pass,” football and faith have little to do with each other, but you’d be wrong.
They’re both community activities, and people like getting together with others of like mind for their recreation. Parents like it too because it means their children are going to a camp whose ideals match their own. So you’ll see Jaycee sports camps at Jewish community centers, sports camps at Providence College and Seminary in Manitoba, Canada, and so forth. And that’s not even to mention that yoga, that mainstay of low-impact fitness regimens, is Hindu in origin, or that basketball’s roots are in the ancient Aztec game, Tlachtli, which involved a ball made from native rubber plants, a rectangular court, wooden hoops at either end of the court, and ritual sacrifice of the losing team after the game.
Aztec rituals aside, if the combination of sport and faith appeals to you and your community, you might give starting a religious sports camp a shot.
Did you know that extreme sports (paintball, mountain biking, skateboarding) and combat sports (boxing, wrestling) are probably much safer than everyone thinks? Shooting sports, too. Really. What makes this true is the vast amount of care that responsible sports enthusiasts put into their practice. While sports like baseball and basketball are regarded as harmless, rifle practice and boxing are seen as being potentially dangerous.
Thus, stricter safety precautions and training procedures are taken with the “dangerous” sports while standards often remain fairly lax with the “harmless” ones, with the ironic result that a young child is probably safer in amateur boxing than in amateur football.
Now consider these possibilities for your sports camp:
Seasonal or year long
On a rented property per event or leased for long-term
Age-based: children, teenagers or adults (or even seniors)
Benefits-based: weight loss, fitness, defensive arts, cardiovascular, endurance, flexibility, relaxation
Sex-based: male, female or co-ed
Indoor, outdoor or both
Tennis, golf, horseback riding, Yoga, martial arts, fitness, aerobic, hiking, biking, etc.
Now, how much money can you make?
Depending on the fees collected, target market and length of the camp, we can safely say that an average of $4,000 per group is attainable. Of course, it can be more or less, depending on various factors.
Need we say more?
This eGuide provides insightful information, advices and tips for anyone who is contemplating to start a sports camp without having to own any property or equipments. Numerous hard-to-find resources are included to help you locate pertinent information.
Jennie S. Bev, StyleCareer.com CEO, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief has been featured and cited worldwide for her unique take on fashion, image, beauty, entertainment, art, and fun careers and start-ups and for her humanitarian works and activisms. She is known as an authority in these fields of business. Since 2003, StyleCareer.com has literally helped thousands of new entrepreneurs starting their businesses with confidence.
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This 50-page instantly downloadable StyleCareer.com eGuide Breaking Into and Succeeding as a Sports Camp Director-Owner brings you valuable insider tips, advice and suggestions not available elsewhere to help you embark on this highly lucrative career path.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Myths, the Realities, and the Basics
I’m not an athlete or a fitness trainer. I haven’t even mentored anybody.
Sports camp is for outdoorsy types, and I’m not that outdoorsy.
I’m not the “military” type: I’ve never led a boot camp.
I don’t have professional organizational skills.
I don’t know how to lead a group professionally.
I don’t have any partners to run it.
I don’t want to be liable for any risks.
I have very limited financial resource.
Getting Started
Statistics
History of Sports Camps
Little-known Truths about Sports Camp
In the Off-season
Sports and Faith
Extreme Sports and Risks
Classifications of Sports Camps
Type of Sports
Age of Attendees
Benefits Sought
Season of Enrollment
Male, Female or Co-Ed?
Outdoors, Indoors, or Both
Level of Experience
Who Trains the Trainers?
Starting the Camp
Earning Potentials
Contractual Work
Hosting a Sports Camp
Licensing
Start-Up Capital
Life Skills Fitness Camp
Football Training Camp
Start-Up Must-Haves
Location Search
Creating Themes and Topics
Hiring Paid Help
Hiring Volunteers
Equipment: Buying, Renting, Finding
Accident and Liability Insurance
Waiver Agreement
Being Successful
Branding and Positioning
Marketing Online and Offline on a Shoestring Budget
Networking organizations
Lifelong Learning
Handling “Difficult People”
Expansion
Auxiliary Products and Souvenirs
This eGuide literally saves you hundreds or even thousands of dollars spent on professional workshops and training and hundreds of hours of research. It will help you break into the career of your dream faster without having to repeat the same mistakes that most newcomers do.
We have also included resources on the following:
Trade and networking associations
Learning resources
You can have this exclusive ebook for just $8.99, which you will earn many times over with your first sale.
Price Only: $8.99
This price is reserved for today Thursday, May 17th, 2012
