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ummer basketball camps can be exciting and intimidating for both children and parents. While your child may be excited to participate in activities like dribbling and shooting, and learning offensive and defensive skills, you might also be overwhelmed with how to prepare and what your role is. Here are five steps to help prepare your athlete for summer basketball camp:
1. Find Answers to Your Camp Questions
There’s a good chance that you have a bunch of questions about sending your child to basketball camp—what your child needs to pack, where pick-ups/drop-offs occur, whether or not lunch is provided, if there are trained medics on site, and more. You may also have questions about the types of skills and fundamentals that your athlete will be learning.
In order to prepare both yourself and your child for camp, make a list of your questions and start asking away. Send an email, call the camp, or meet with a camp adviser to clear up any confusion or concerns. When it comes to packing, ask for a camp packing list to help make everything easier.
2. Take a Trip to the Grocery Store
While Triple Threat Academy is a day camp (meaning athletes attend from about 9am-2pm for 3-4 days) many parents still want to make sure their child has enough to eat. Even if the camp is providing food, it’s still a good idea to send your child to camp with a few snacks—just make sure to check with the camp beforehand to make sure this is okay!
Choose healthy snacks such as dried fruit, nuts, jerky, or protein and power bars (there are kid-friendly versions of these for younger athletes). Also, consider packing some electrolyte-rich drinks, such as coconut water, which has both electrolytes and potassium and is a good alternative to sugary sports drinks.
3. Buy a Water Bottle for Basketball Camp
If your child doesn’t already have a reusable water bottle, now is the perfect time to purchase one. Sports camps like Triple Threat Academy create fun and energetic environments where kids participate in a number of activities, meaning proper hydration throughout the camp will be key to preventing cramps, keeping headaches at bay, and maintaining optimal muscle and body function. In addition to purchasing the water bottle, have a talk with your child about how important hydration is, especially for athletes.
4. Pack All Necessary Camp Items
Basketball camp is going to require great shoes, a change of athletic clothes or shorts, and anything else that’s on the camp packing list. TTA requires you to bring your own basketball with your name clearly written on it. Pack all of these items in advance, so that you’re not scrambling to find them last minute, or worse, forget about packing them entirely. If there’s something on the camp packing list that your child doesn’t have, don’t wait until the day before camp begins to purchase it.
Having everything packed in advance will put your mind at ease, and assure you that you’re sending your child off well-equipped. Plus it will make for a much more relaxing start to the first day of basketball camp for both you and your athlete.
It’s always best to leave valuables at home: ipod, game cards, jewelry, etc. as they tend to missing throughout the week.
5. Talk with Your Child About Attending Camp
If this is your child’s first camp experience, there may be some nerves from both parties. Talk with your child about any fears or anxieties they might have about going to camp, and answer any questions they have. In the discussion, include a chat about eating well, hydrating properly, and making friends with others or displaying good sportsmanship. Also, this talk is the perfect opportunity to discuss good behaviors, expectations, and the importance of respecting coaches and other players.
By taking these five steps to prepare your child for camp, you’ll be way ahead of the game. Don’t worry though: if you do forget or overlook something, chances are it’s happened before and the coaches at Triple Threat Academy will be prepared to handle it.
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