 Sponsored post. Written by IMG Academy.
Sports camps are a great way for your child to work on their athletic skills while also preparing to become a collegiate student-athlete. While athletics camps or other sport-specific program allows your child to improve their skills, there are also other benefits that will help them when applying to and attending college as well as later in life.
Overnight Camps Teach Kids How to Live Away from Home
The majority of students leave their home, bedroom, and other surroundings that they are familiar with to go to college. As you're aware, this step in their lives also means that they are going to be living apart from you, their parent, and will be living in close quarters with new personalities that come from a wide range of different backgrounds. Although a beneficial and impactful decision, this move can be quite a shock to a child that hasn't lived away from home before. Kids who grew up going away to sleepaway camps during the summer will be more prepared when moving away for college.Â
Overnight Camps Teach Kids How to Live with Others
When kids go away to an overnight camp such as a sport-specific athletics program, they encounter a wide range of new personalities and other children who come from extremely diverse backgrounds. After sharing living quarters, bathroom facilities, and other communal spaces with so many different people, your child will be better-prepared for the challenges that may come with having roommates or suitemates when they go to college.
Overnight Camps Teach Kids How to Accept Change
When your child arrives at camp, their bunk, cabin mates, and perhaps even their daily schedule will already be assigned to them. Daily activities can change any moment based on anything from weather to facility conditions to staff availability. Even their daily meals can present new experiences if your child is presented with food they aren't familiar with. When your child learns from an early age that they don't have control over every aspect of their daily lives, they will be better prepared as young adults to roll with the punches and be flexible when facing change.Â
Overnight Camps Teach Kids How to Support Each Other
Whether it's loaning out a sweatshirt because a cabin mate forgot to pack one, consoling a fellow camper who is feeling homesick, or teaching a new skill to other campers, kids at camp learn to support one another. When your child reaches the collegiate level, these traits will translate to them being willing to help their roommate or classmates as well as also being more willing to ask for help when they need it themselves.
Kids who go to camp, whether it be a sports camp or other type of overnight camp, also learn how to work together as a team, which is a big asset when joining a collegiate athletics program. A student-athlete who has experience working with other kids from diverse backgrounds will bring that experience to their team, helping to create an overall positive team environment to the program.
Overnight Camps Teach Kids to Live Outside of Their Comfort Zones
From living away from home to meeting new people and possibly even trying new food, going away to overnight camp will teach your child to step outside of their comfort zone. If your child has already had this experience, then, when they go away to college, they will face less of a culture shock and be better prepared for new experiences that may come at the collegiate level.
Overnight Camp Attendance Can Pad Your Child's College Application
Kids who go to camp learn independence, self-reliance, and leadership skills, as well as the specific set of athletic skills they will continue to develop by attending a sports camp. These characteristics will allow your child's college application to stand out to collegiate sports recruiters. College coaches look for prospective athletes who have been to sports camps because they know those students will be better equipped to be independent once enrolled.
Do you think an athletics camp would be a beneficial experience for your child? IMG Academy offers a wide range of sport-specific camps throughout the year that help your child hone their athletic skills while living away from home with other children from a wide range of backgrounds. Contact us today to request more information about one of our sports camp programs.
Â
