The Hendricks County Flyer & Westside Flyer - June 9, 2003
Athletic camps proving to be a big business

By Brian Kern - Flyer Intern

Balls soar through the air, children chatter and play, and parents reach for the checkbook. It's summertime in Indiana, which is the official mark of athletic camp season.

At a time when nearly every sport has its own set of camps for younger and older players alike, the question is, are they worth the time, effort and money?

Former Indiana Pacer Billy Keller says yes, as long as kids are looking for the right things. The former basketball star runs Billy Keller Basketball Camps, which coordinates numerous camps across the state.

"If a youngster is coming to camp, they are coming for fun, to meet other kids and to develop fundamentals," Keller said.

Plainfield High School basketball coach Curt Benge runs the high school's youth basketball camp and says that it's a bonus for the community's children.

"I think they learn to enjoy basketball," Benge said. "For some, it's the only place where they get to learn these kinds of things."

The day camp, at a cost of $60, lasts two weeks and allows participants a trip to practice at Conseco Fieldhouse, an opportunity to win Indiana Pacers and Fever tickets, and a chance to learn from guest instructor and Ball State University women's coach Tracy Roller.

High school athletes, especially those who want to play their sport in college, are also finding camps valuable. John Shondell, assistant volleyball coach at Purdue University, says camps are a wonderful recruiting tool. College-bound athletes are not permitted more than one recruiting visit to a university, but camps are not counted toward that rule, he explained.

"It gives a coach a little better chance to get to know (a player)," Shondell said.

Keller noted that youth camps are different from college camps because they evaluate differently.

"I do some evaluations for my camps," Keller said, although he is quick to caution that such evaluations are not a permanent measure of a child's success on the athletic field. "It's an evaluation based on what a coach sees for a short period of time. It's not to project whether a kid will be a great player or not. "It gives kids a chance to compare themselves to kids of different communities."

Websites are also enjoying the success of the camping business. Kidscamps.com in Florida operates a listing of more than 21,000 camps across the country and USsportscamps.com, Nike Athletic's camp advertiser, claims itself as America's largest camp network.

"We draw in over 7 million families a year," Kidscamps.com C.E.O. Kim Bregman said. "We go out and market to find kids interested in summer programs. It's a terrific resource for families as seen by our amount of traffic."

Bregman said her site features a shopping section for camp amenities, advice for parents, and even insurance for nonrefundable camp programs.

Keller says camps are worth the time and effort, despite the potential expense and hassle, if the camper comes ready to learn.

"There are two objectives that I have," he said. "I want them to be there for the purpose of learning ... at least one thing from the camp to make them better. Secondly, I want them to have fun. If they are having fun, then they are achieving the first objective."