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Post by somecoach on Jul 11, 2019 19:34:23 GMT -6
Back in my day/pretty much every coach I ever met's day for the first week of Football Camp, we would load up the buses, put the sleds in a U-Haul, and go out to rural Pennsylvania in the middle of the woods at a camp ground for football camp. This was all well and good until a local school's seniors decided to smuggle BB guns into camp and shoot the freshman while they were sleeping in their bunks... This resulted in a litigation nightmare and caused every principal in the area to ban going away for camp. (here's the link.... spoiler alert the program did get reinstated! www.silive.com/news/2017/07/former_susan_wagner_student_su.html ) Now my entire area stays on campus for the duration of summer "camp"/ "2-a-days". so my question is does anyone still load up the buses and go out to camp? (leaving the liability argument out) does anyone see a difference between going away and staying on campus? Imo as grueling as the summer practices were, I wouldn't trade that experience away for the world. And imo the idea of going out in the middle of the woods to a "paris island" style setting made the team bond more. Your thoughts? |
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Post by wingtol on Jul 11, 2019 20:57:33 GMT -6
From PA also, went to camp when I played and for a long time as a coach. We don't anymore and I couldn't be happier about it. Probably went for 15 years or so as a coach and there were great times, great for team bonding and all but it just got to be too much of a pain in the a$$. Also takes a lot of money to pull off with rent, food, getting stuff out there and all. Way we practice now I don't mind being home by 5 after two a days instead of dragging myself into a cabin and 50 year old bunk bed.
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Post by Coach Vint on Jul 12, 2019 11:17:07 GMT -6
When I coached in NYC we went to Camp Kinder-Ring for four days. I was single so I enjoyed not having to cook and clean for those four days. It was great team bonding. It was a pain as we had to raise the money, rent a truck, load everything, and drive a couple hours. Our kids were very well behaved for the most part. We had an egging incident one year, but that is as bad as it go. When that happened (10pm) we took them to the field and ran gassers until midnight. We had no more issues that year or others.
It is sad that the word has changed so much. Bad things have been happening for year, but now with social media things spread like wildfire. Camp was a great experience for team bonding and for our kids in general. Most of our kids had never left the city. The big deal at camp was that they couldn't skip and they couldn't quit. We knew we would have 100% attendance for those four days.
I know a few schools still go, but I am sure it is many less than 15 years ago.
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Post by dblwngr on Jul 12, 2019 13:18:36 GMT -6
I'm a bit confused? We go to a team camp but for us that means going to a camp with multiple teams and competing against each other normally in June or July.
We have never started football practice on the road hauling our stuff somewhere, especially sleds, sounds like a pain in the a$$!
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Post by dmg10007 on Jul 12, 2019 14:16:34 GMT -6
My Sophomore year of High School about 12 years ago, first time practicing with varsity level guys (We had a separate freshman team) was the only time I went away for a "Camp" that was just my team. The team I'm coaching now has us going to a multiple team camp for 4 days / 3 nights before we come back and get into our Pre-Season "Camp" on campus.
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Post by mdunham on Jul 12, 2019 14:18:15 GMT -6
I'm a bit confused? We go to a team camp but for us that means going to a camp with multiple teams and competing against each other normally in June or July.
We have never started football practice on the road hauling our stuff somewhere, especially sleds, sounds like a pain in the a$$!
I envision it as similar to something like Junction Boys or Remember the Titans preseason. Never gone as a player or coach. We have so many time limitations for practice from state organization and we have so little time before regular season (3-4 weeks with restrictions on time per day and equipment). While team building seems like an upside I do think there is value for players and coaches to be able to go home and relax individually. The season is a grind between school and football plus if guys play other sports plus offseason workouts plus 7v7 - I think there is something to be said for everyone having time for themselves. Kids will be kids and hang out after preseason practice and coaches can still have family time or what not. Offseason summer kids can/do/encouraged to do different individual camps but mostly our area is clinics - come in morning leave in afternoon over a course of a week. Limitations for coaches that coach per state participants must not be 50%+ of your guys - so guys can’t get their whole group of dudes together. |
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Post by wingtol on Jul 12, 2019 19:33:20 GMT -6
I'm a bit confused? We go to a team camp but for us that means going to a camp with multiple teams and competing against each other normally in June or July.
We have never started football practice on the road hauling our stuff somewhere, especially sleds, sounds like a pain in the a$$!
Was a big tradition here in PA. Most teams went away for the first or second week of fall camp, some even went for both. Pack up the team and hit the road! That was also when there was very little summer work compared to today so teams weren't together as much before fall camp. Like I said we did it for a long time and was a great experience, former players still talk about camp when I see them but I'm over it now don't miss it a bit. |
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Post by wolverine55 on Jul 12, 2019 20:39:23 GMT -6
Maybe not all of these states have adopted these limitations, but with two-a-days basically legislated out of existence, I can't imagine anything like this would be worth the time investment now. For example, in Iowa the longest we can have the kids in is four hours and only three of those hours can be on-the-field activity. And, we can't have the kids for two hours and send them home and bring them back. It has to be all one session. So, if we were to do this, what would we do with the other 20 hours in the day? We never did this when I was in high school too, but we normally started practice on a Wednesday and sometimes school started as soon as the next Monday or Tuesday.
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Post by somecoach on Jul 14, 2019 19:41:51 GMT -6
I'm a bit confused? We go to a team camp but for us that means going to a camp with multiple teams and competing against each other normally in June or July.
We have never started football practice on the road hauling our stuff somewhere, especially sleds, sounds like a pain in the a$$!
Nope, maybe its a regional thing, up here in the north east we would literally pack the entire team into a coach bus, put a few of our sleds into a U-Haul, and go to a rented camp ground to run what seemed like 6 a days and yes it was a HUGE Pain in the A$$. |
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Post by bucksweepdotcom on Jul 16, 2019 13:35:58 GMT -6
Did it for 20 years. When I was younger I was really into it. I got the HC job last year did it for the tradition of doing it. It is a huge pain in the ass. We are not doing it this year. It places a lot of stress on coaches and their families. I got asked by one parent why we aren't going, my answer was "Think of taking 50 of your sons friends away on vacation with you and 4 of your adult friends for a week. What could go wrong??" They looked at me nodded and walked away.
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Post by coachdawhip on Jul 16, 2019 14:04:37 GMT -6
I haven't in a few years BUT schools load up the kids and go to FCA camp in Georgia all the time.
It really is fun, we spend 3 days and 2 nights and practice football for a total of 6 hours max.
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Post by blb on Jul 16, 2019 14:07:45 GMT -6
Never went away to a "camp," so maybe I'm not best to comment.
If you as head coach believed this was a good way to help your team be successful and perhaps learn somethings about life-each other, fine.
Not sure you couldn't do the same with traditional Two-a-Days or something similar as many are doing now and everybody be home at night.
I know of one coach who did this for some time and stopped couple years ago.
They were mildly successful while doing the "camp thing" and slightly more since they stopped doing it.
Personally I wouldn't do it. I liked being home with my wife and kids at night, and some of our assistant coaches who weren't teachers had "day jobs" wouldn't have been available.
Heck when I was coaching college BITD I hated the nights I had to spend in the dorms as "supervisor."
Mostly it was about being home with my wife and daughters.
And I didn't see how that would help us win any more games, or kids enjoy playing football more.
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Post by blb on Jul 16, 2019 14:42:16 GMT -6
Did it for 20 years. When I was younger I was really into it. I got the HC job last year did it for the tradition of doing it. It is a huge pain in the ass. We are not doing it this year. It places a lot of stress on coaches and their families. I got asked by one parent why we aren't going, my answer was "Think of taking 50 of your sons friends away on vacation with you and 4 of your adult friends for a week. What could go wrong??" They looked at me nodded and walked away.
...or what good could come of it that you wouldn't have gotten from staying home-practicing?
I suspect parents who like their kids going away to "football camp" feel that way because while Junior's away, dad and mom can get "reacquainted" without interruption, if you know what I mean.
Meanwhile coaches have to be surrogate parents for their kids and miss their own wife-kids.
I can imagine the phone call from camp the night before leaving - "Roll back the sheets honey, I'm coming home!"
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Post by coachjm on Jul 16, 2019 15:18:15 GMT -6
We had camp when I was a player in the 90's then when I got my first HC position my teams did this. I stopped doing it in the 2010 season. The main reason that we stopped was due directly to the concerns I had with boys making potential bad choices. Fortunately we didn't have any issues but I remember discussing with our staff in 2010 about the things our boys were exposed to due to the internet and television that they hadn't been 20 years prior and the effect that this had on them. A few years later a friend/coach of mine had some issues at a camp and it had a huge impact on his successful program and career. Ultimately, as a Coach we have a tremendous responsibility of the welfare of our players, I will continue to chose not to take this responsibility on for 24 hours a day for a extended period of time and instead partner with their parents in supporting their child to choose to make the correct decisions.
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Post by cpcollet on Jul 16, 2019 22:29:24 GMT -6
While I agree that camp can create some great bonding moments, as a Head Coach it is just too much to worry about. We do our camp at the high school. We feed the kids breakfast and lunch practice twice and lift. We close the day with a character discussion led by a different coach each day.
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