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Post by atlfutboldad on Jan 7, 2019 14:58:51 GMT -5
So, we're about to kick off Spring...and I'd like some opinions and experiences on the best summer camps for pre-ID ages (rising U15 and younger...yes I know 14 yo's can do ID camps). I am talking about developmental/skills camps rather than ID camps. Mine's done Auburn's Residential, Emory day, and UGA day youth camps; and Lesesne's at UGA is easily the worst. She liked the cafeteria at Emory the best . Challenger is only applicable to young academy ages (I mean young). I remember some discussion about IMG's camps not being worth the money. The only good skills camp mine has dones was a Coerver winter camp a couple years ago at Silverbacks park that was fantastic (which was decently attended IMO), but Coerver has really only operated out of Wolf Indoor ever since. We're on the east side so that's not an option. Has anyone done the ridiculously expensive Berkshire academy? At those prices, I'd expect them to be able to turn Bradley into Ronaldinho.
Has anyone done Berry College/Mount Berry?
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Post by mistergrinch on Jan 7, 2019 15:02:57 GMT -5
Auburn is pretty meh.
UNC is great, but huge. I've heard USC one is very good. Clemson is excellent.
For non college, the predator camp is supposed to be excellent.
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Post by oraclesfriend on Jan 7, 2019 15:57:54 GMT -5
Berkshire Soccer Academy is a real camp, not just a soccer camp so the prices need to be thought of in those terms. They have a lake that they swim in, SUP in, canoe in, fish in. They have cabins (with A/C) not dorms. They have cooking and archery and drama and art. They have goofy camp things as well like skits and bonfires. We have looked into it and know people who have gone there. They increase the price for the sessions that have Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Tisha Venturini so the other sessions are less expensive. Real summer camps are pretty expensive. My nephews went to one in Massachusetts that was about $12000 for a summer. They have to cover the cost of liability insurance since they have no university to fall back on.
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Post by Goalkeeper Dad on Jan 7, 2019 16:14:50 GMT -5
Look into the Ralph Lundy Camp at West Georgia. We sent a couple of girls a couple of years back and saw some vast improvement in their footwork. It a 4 day/ 3 night camp. Lots of footwork drills packed into those 4 days. Mainly for field players would not send there if she is a goalie
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Post by atlfutboldad on Jan 7, 2019 16:40:12 GMT -5
Berkshire Soccer Academy is a real camp, not just a soccer camp so the prices need to be thought of in those terms. They have a lake that they swim in, SUP in, canoe in, fish in. They have cabins (with A/C) not dorms. They have cooking and archery and drama and art. They have goofy camp things as well like skits and bonfires. We have looked into it and know people who have gone there. They increase the price for the sessions that have Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Tisha Venturini so the other sessions are less expensive. Real summer camps are pretty expensive. My nephews went to one in Massachusetts that was about $12000 for a summer. They have to cover the cost of liability insurance since they have no university to fall back on. Cool, you have completely talked me out of that camp! Good to know!
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Post by atlfutboldad on Jan 7, 2019 16:50:10 GMT -5
Look into the Ralph Lundy Camp at West Georgia. We sent a couple of girls a couple of years back and saw some vast improvement in their footwork. It a 4 day/ 3 night camp. Lots of footwork drills packed into those 4 days. Mainly for field players would not send there if she is a goalie The Lundy one speaks highly of itself. I have their UWG, Darlington and Wofford locations on my list. I assume they will have mostly the same coaches at all 4 camps.
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Post by mistergrinch on Jan 7, 2019 17:35:10 GMT -5
Berkshire Soccer Academy is a real camp, not just a soccer camp so the prices need to be thought of in those terms. They have a lake that they swim in, SUP in, canoe in, fish in. They have cabins (with A/C) not dorms. They have cooking and archery and drama and art. They have goofy camp things as well like skits and bonfires. We have looked into it and know people who have gone there. They increase the price for the sessions that have Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Tisha Venturini so the other sessions are less expensive. Real summer camps are pretty expensive. My nephews went to one in Massachusetts that was about $12000 for a summer. They have to cover the cost of liability insurance since they have no university to fall back on. Cool, you have completely talked me out of that camp! Good to know! The people I know who've gone there say it's the best camp they've ever attended.. not sure what in the description above talked you out of it (unless you're looking for a pure all-soccer-all-the-time college camp).
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Post by atlfutboldad on Jan 7, 2019 17:44:23 GMT -5
Yeah, my kid has done 4-H Rock Eagle with the other stuff (and had a blast), and will do it again this summer. Don't need a soccer camp to do that kind of youth bonding.
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Post by oraclesfriend on Jan 7, 2019 18:38:50 GMT -5
Yeah, my kid has done 4-H Rock Eagle with the other stuff (and had a blast), and will do it again this summer. Don't need a soccer camp to do that kind of youth bonding. They still do 4-6 hours per day of soccer. The regular camp/soccer camp blend is what appeals to a lot of people. My kid has done several college camps but as they get older (12-13 and up) they really shouldn't play 8 hours of soccer per day. It is too much and it breaks down their body plus they start to tune out...can't focus that long. So they are serious when they play soccer, but go be crazy kids at other times at Berkshire. But to each their own. I have heard a lot of good stuff about the Predator camp and the Lundy camp. For day camps if you live close enough the Future Stars has great talent that attends it and great coaching. Regardless I think you have to know what you are looking for. Lots of camps will teach them new things but if they don't practice those skills and reinforce it at home they won't get that much out of it.
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Jan 7, 2019 21:27:23 GMT -5
What specifically makes a good camp in your mind? All day soccer, 2 hrs, 4 hrs? Offsite location or local at a facility within the metro area? Does the coach matter or should it be about a couch who engages and connects with your player? What is a good ROI, under U12 $250 or less, U12 - U14 $500 or less and U15+ $500+ Open to your thoughts and ideas?
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Post by slickdaddy96 on Jan 8, 2019 8:45:53 GMT -5
I got a similar question. I got a kid that will be a U14 player next year. He excels at defending or as a defensive midfielder. He is a great tackler but has trouble with speedier forwards/mids and tackling them (though from what I see from most defenders a lot of kids have that issue). In futsal he excels because those speedy players never get up to full speed. Every camp I have ever taken him to in winter or summer always is more about 1v1 attacking and attacking/striking camps.
Very few camps concentrate on defending and techniques for defenders. I'm not looking to break the bank and probably am looking for a day camp type thing local in the metro area. He isn't to the point where I need to fork out money for overnight camps yet.
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Post by atlfutboldad on Jan 8, 2019 15:17:29 GMT -5
I got a similar question. I got a kid that will be a U14 player next year. He excels at defending or as a defensive midfielder. He is a great tackler but has trouble with speedier forwards/mids and tackling them (though from what I see from most defenders a lot of kids have that issue). In futsal he excels because those speedy players never get up to full speed. Every camp I have ever taken him to in winter or summer always is more about 1v1 attacking and attacking/striking camps. Very few camps concentrate on defending and techniques for defenders. I'm not looking to break the bank and probably am looking for a day camp type thing local in the metro area. He isn't to the point where I need to fork out money for overnight camps yet. Its a good point that defending is not well taught (neither is proper slide-tackling).
But it sounds like generalized speed and agility would be the focus you're looking for. Private training is likely the best route. Maybe see if he can do track for the spring in Middle school?
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Post by atlfutboldad on Jan 8, 2019 15:32:48 GMT -5
What specifically makes a good camp in your mind? All day soccer, 2 hrs, 4 hrs? Offsite location or local at a facility within the metro area? Does the coach matter or should it be about a couch who engages and connects with your player? What is a good ROI, under U12 $250 or less, U12 - U14 $500 or less and U15+ $500+ Open to your thoughts and ideas? I'm not in the metro, so it will HAVE to be offsite. As long as the sessions are varied and not all about running/etc, then a camp that focuses on soccer specifically is best (for a soccer camp...from MY perspective). Spending a session playing soccer tennis or soccer volleyball or 4-square is worthwhile. But there are so many details to work on that a 3-5-day camp can focus on before even touching small-sided scrimmaging. Which I would assume is the main reason most parents are trying to be cost effective and pay $500-700 for 12 sessions at an overnight camp instead of $600 for a few 45-minute sessions with a private trainer. You often don't know what you're going to get out of private training, and can be difficult to find good ones when you're out in the sticks. Coaches...a collegiate level head coach or higher overseeing college players as counselors works good so long as they're involved in instruction and correction.
Overnight camps in the dorms are fun and provide a collegiate environment experience (as long as they're not wasting a bunch of time in the dorms). Would rather pay 500-700 for a dorm than 1200 for a summer camp. If its not about soccer I fear the focus would be on what they will be doing afterwards (I can't wait to go swimming/fishing/canoeing later!!!). As I mentioned, the Coerver camp (I think it was 3 hours each day) was excellent. Focus on technique and repetition, then introduce challenges, then 1v1/2v2/3v3. Unfortunately they don't offer sessions around the state.
We did a CF North winter camp once, and while the competition was good, very little time was spent on instruction or correction.
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Post by soccermaxx72 on Jan 8, 2019 18:12:29 GMT -5
Duke girls soccer camp is amazing Clemson the girls had fun but was not as technical as Duke
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Post by oraclesfriend on Jan 8, 2019 21:03:47 GMT -5
So we also live OTP and both parents work busy jobs so day camps are not possible unless they are all day and within a 20 minutes drive of house/work. Overnight camps are a must. We have done college camps, but for younger kids I have 2 problems with them...lack of supervision when off of the field and a few camps had the kids doing soccer stuff 8-10 hours per day and sleeping less than 9 hours per night. 10-12 year old kids need more than 9 hours of sleep especially when playing a ton of soccer.
Clemson has adjusted the amount of time on the field to a more reasonable 6 hours the last few years but the time they are not on the field, they are hanging in dorms. My kid loves Clemson camp though. It has been helpful development-wise.
Auburn is not very good. The kids eat fast food for lunch and dinner. The level of competition is not as good as Clemson and they had rising U14 girls scrimmaging on 9v9. It was weird. I don't mind small sided but I prefer them to also do full field.
As my child got to rising U13 and up I don't feel like the camps were as helpful as the time she spent working on her own. However, she has to do something in the summer. She can't just sit around the house and do nothing. She has no interest in regular summer camp (4H or VBS) so soccer is it.
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Post by atlfutboldad on Jan 9, 2019 9:25:55 GMT -5
Duke girls soccer camp is amazing Clemson the girls had fun but was not as technical as Duke Cool, i had been looking at Duke and UNC for a couple years. Duke id expensive for 3 days, but if it's worth it. If UNC is big like a combine, no thanks. No one had her experience with Berry? Lundy and Predator so far are getting the most praise. Auburn did move to the fast food instead of the cafeteria a couple years ago. Mine didnt care for that nor their cafeteria in comparison to Emory's. Had heard the same about Clemson with regard to wasted time in the dorm when not practicing. Also mine is a late year birthday 06, and has been under the cutoff to play with girls in her birth year several times at camps but is usually well above other girls her age. She will be 12 going on 13 this summer, I'm hesitant to try and register her for camps that may throw her into a younger group. When will college camps grasp the birth year mandate?
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Post by oraclesfriend on Jan 9, 2019 20:58:54 GMT -5
UNC is a big camp. When we did it there were 350 girls there or more just for the jr elite (their developmental camp rising U14 and under) and they had a concurrent ID camp going so there were TONS of kids. The best 4-5 players in Georgia in our age group were at this camp. My kid loved it! I loved that they gave an evaluation to them at the end (Auburn did that too). I think the level of play is high there. One downside to UNC and Duke to busy working parents is the time it takes to drive there. It is not worth driving up and back twice so you have to stay there or have a friend carpool. Also they were lights out at 11pm and up at 645am. My kids was totally beat after that camp. I think I will send my younger one to it once too, but only one year. We have done Clemson often enough (due to quality and proximity) that the coach knows my kid even if we show up at a Clemson game to watch them. It is a friendly coaching staff. We chose not to do Duke due to the distance driving for one day fewer than UNC and more expensive. We may do an ID camp there in the future though.
One thing I would say about camps is to not expect too much improvement in your kid's game. They often will come out of a camp with one new skill or move, but if you really wants results in technical skills they are better off spending 30 minutes a day on them at home than learning them at a camp.
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Post by SoccerMom on Jan 9, 2019 21:08:49 GMT -5
My kids have never been, but I have heard Predator Camp run by Velko is really good.
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Post by soccerdad on Jan 10, 2019 11:22:22 GMT -5
If any of you are looking for a more affordable and reasonably local option, Columbus State is good. Girls head coach is former professional coach and USWNT staff and think he still does some recruiting at the youth national level.
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