How to run a Summer Basketball Skills Camp?

Providing your community with a basketball skills camp during the summer can be a huge help for your program and provide your community with a much needed service. We have been doing a basketball skills camp in our area for the last five years, and it has payed huge dividens for us. There are several positive things a skills camp can provide for you. The main ones are as follows:

• an extra source of revenue for your basketball program (which can help take some of the cost off of your players)
• teach some valuable skills to some possible future players
• help get some support for your basketball program

If you are going to have a basketball skills camp, the first thing you have to do is talk to your athletic director and follow all procedures for your county. Our county doesn't cover the insurance cost for the camp, so we have to obtain our own insurance from a local provider. The insurance isn't too bad. It can range anywhere from $75 to $200 depending on your provider and how much coverage you need. Next, you need to market your camp. We have done several things in the past, and each is affective. First we create a brochure. On the brochure make sure you have all the following information:

• Cost of the camp (we usually go $50 or $65 per camper) (we have given deals to families that send multiple kids)
• The address and phone number of the school
• The dates, times, and length of the camps
• ages and grade levels of the camp (we usually do a 3-5 grade camp and a 6-8 grade camp)
• everything the players will get (we usually give students a t-shirt, pizza on the last day)

After we create the brochure we visit each of the local elementary and middle schools and have the principal allow us to talk to the entire school in the gym or cafeteria. When we visit the schools we pass out brochureand answer all questions. We also have our schools website director put a link on the web page so that anyone can download a blank form and mail it into us. We also advertise it in the local newspaper for a small fee. All of these above are great ways to get the word out to the kids about the camp.

After you have advertised the camp and the pre-registers are starting to pour in, you need to make sure you are organized by creating a schedule. The way we break our schedule up is by dividing up the different skills and time. The following is an example of a schedule that we use:

8:00-8:10 (Roll Call, bathroom break, and awaiting late arrivals)

8:10-8:20 Stretching (stationary and plyometrics)

8:20-8:25 Divide Campers into equal groups

8:25-8:30 Athletic Stance practice (as a group with coaches circulating)

8:30-8:48 Stationary Dribbling (Stations) (3mins. each dribble) (1-right, left hand dribbling) (2-circle right/left legs, side to side dribbling) (3-figure 8 dribbling and figure 8 catch), (4-spider, quick hands one in front one in back) (5- two ball dribbling) (6- two ball figure eight dribble)

8:48-9:05 Cone Dribbling (4 lines one coach at each line) we do each of the following during this portion of the camp going up and down the floor around and between cones (1-right hand down/left hand back) (2-cross over at each cone) (3-Between legs at each cone) (4-behind back at each cone) (5-power back dribble into cross over) (6-circle cone dribble)

9:05-9:15 Stance and Step (defensive slide work) We do each of the following in this order as a group (1-horizontal slide), (2-drop step left then slide), (3-drop step right then slide), (4-put all together with coach point which way to drop step and slide)

9:15-9:25 Line Drill (still working on stance and lateral movement) (if you want it explained post a comment)

9:25-9:35 Break (You can either provide the kids with water/Gatorade or sell them concessions during this time)

9:35-9:50 Passing (4-5mins. per passing drill) (1-two handed chest pass), (2-two handed bounce pass), (3-two handed overhead pass), (4-Baseball bounce pass right and left)

9:50-10:10 Tennis Ball Drills (Hand Eye Coordination) (you can get the tennis ball from your tennis coach) (Set up stations) (1-catch and toss one ball), (2-catch and toss two balls), (3-catch and toss two balls at same time)

10:10-10:25 Shooting Proper Technique (teach BEEF)

10:25-10:50 Shooting Stations (set up as stations) (1-rim flips), (2-short corner left and right), (3-bank shot left and right), (4-elbow shoot left and right)

10:50-11:05 Rotational Shooting (1-Mikkan Drill), (2-Left and Right Layup), (3-Drop Step Power Layup right and left), (4-Laying on floor Shoot to yourself)

11:05-11:15 Full Court Layups (if you have a lot of campers, use the side goals and put half on each side of the floor)

11:15-11:20 Free Throws (work on proper shooting technique and routine)

11:20-11:35 X-Belly Up (4 dribbles per possession, offense keeps ball if they score, go 1 on 1 for 5mins, 2 on 2 for 5mins, 3 on 3 for 5mins.)

11:35-11:45 5 on 5 full court games

11:45-12:00 Review Dribbling Skills, Shooting Rules (BEEF), etc... and clean up, then dismiss

Running the basketball camp can be tricky, but if you follow some of these tips it will go on without any problems.

1. Get your Players Involved! (The kids love to see your players at the camp and will most of the time pay more attention to them then to you anyway. If you have some players that are great at teaching skills, then you can show them what you want them to do and have them run the drills for you. We have several kids pay for camp this way, or we pay them to help with the camp. Also if you have a kid that can dunk the basketball, make sure they come at least one day. The kids will love it.
2. Be Organized (Type a schedule out and make sure you know you have everything ready day one. Don't assume it is ready. Talk to your t-shirt guy and make sure he can get the shirts done on time.)
3. Make the camp fun. (It is a skills camp, but it is not practice. If you see the kids are bored, then throw in some games to get them fired up. It doesn't have to be one on one, but knockout or anything like that can be great. Also have your players take on a kid in a drill every now and then, it will definitely liven the camp up.

These are just a few of the things we do to make sure our campers have an excellent experience. We have had a blast the last five years, and I hope it continues. It is a great way to raise money for the team, and provides a great service. If you have any other questions, please feel free to post any comments below.