Camps are where off-seasons get their biggest jumps — a week of concentrated technique, new training partners, and (for team camps) the shared-suffering bonding that carries a room through February. Here's both sides: taking your team to one, and hosting your own.
Part 1: Taking your team to camp
Choosing the right camp type
| Type | What it is | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Technique camp | Skill instruction from college coaches/star clinicians, moderate intensity | Youth through HS; the default recommendation |
| Intensive/"toughness" camp | High-volume, multi-practice days testing conditioning and will | Committed HS wrestlers with a base — NOT beginners or most middle schoolers |
| Team camp | Your whole squad trains and duals against other teams' squads, often at a college | Building next season's lineup and culture; the best value per dollar for programs |
| Commuter/day camp | Local, no overnight | Youth wrestlers and first-camp experiences |
Planning the trip (coach's checklist)
- Pick by fit, not fame: match camp intensity to your roster's reality; call the camp director and ask what percentage of campers are first-timers
- Announce in March with full costs — fee, transport, spending money — and run a spring fundraiser so cost never excludes a kid
- Paperwork: medical/release forms, insurance verification, emergency contacts in the coach's binder AND phone, medication plan for who needs what when
- Supervision: follow your school/club's chaperone ratios and two-deep rules; rooming lists set by coaches, curfew and phone policies announced to parents in writing beforehand
- Pack list to families: double gear (two of everything — laundry is not guaranteed), shower shoes, twin bedding, snacks, water jug, and disinfectant wipes + daily-shower orders (camp is the year's #1 skin-infection vector — see skin care)
- Set the tone: the goal is learning and team-building, not surviving; brief your captains to watch for homesick or overwhelmed teammates
Part 2: Hosting your own camp
A well-run camp is a program accelerator: revenue, recruiting exposure, and a gift to your local wrestling community. Start small — a 2–3 day commuter technique camp — before dreaming about overnight operations.
The build
- 3–4 months out Pick dates (avoid the area's established camps/state freestyle events). Book facility and confirm insurance coverage for a camp (your charter/school policy — verify, don't assume). Recruit the clinician: a nearby college coach or accomplished alum headlining transforms registration numbers, and many are affordable/free for programs they care about. Set price against local market ($50–150 for commuter camps typical).
- 2 months out Registration live (your club's registration platform or a simple form + payment link), flyers to every feeder school and neighboring club, daily schedule drafted (technique blocks am, games/live pm — kids' attention dies after 90 focused minutes; break it up)
- 2 weeks out Staff confirmed (your coaches + HS wrestlers as counselors — background-check rules apply to adult staff), camper t-shirts ordered (the shirt IS the marketing for next year), medical coverage arranged, waiver/emergency forms collected
- Camp week Check-in table, groups split by age/experience from minute one, water breaks every 20–30 minutes (summer + mats = heat management, take it seriously), daily parent-pickup email recap, final-day mini-competition with medals and the group photo
The math (50-camper commuter camp)
50 campers × $75 = $3,750 against clinician fee, shirts, insurance/facility, and medals — typically netting a few thousand dollars while introducing fifty kids to your club. Half your fall registration growth walks in wearing the camp shirt.
The camp rule every veteran coach repeats
Kids remember camps for the fun with a technique bonus — dodgeball championships, freezer-pop breaks, counselor skits — and improvement follows attendance, not misery. The camp kids beg to return to is the camp that grows your program. Run that one.