Camps with football in USA

• Professional skills development

For an athlete it is important to never stop developing, and American school and university camps provide a practically ideal environment for quality growth and professional development. The combination of modern infrastructure and qualified coaches allows not only to identify strengths and weaknesses, but also to work effectively on technique, improving their level of professionalism.

• Accreditations and licenses

All American children's camps operating in the international market undergo several stages of certification at the local and state levels and receive a license from the American Camp Association (ACA). All this confirms the highest quality of work, safety and efficiency.

• Multiculturalism and internationalism

In addition to natives of the USA, there are many foreigners from all over the world in football camps. Communicating with each other, children and teenagers from different cultural and ethnic groups not only establish friendships, but also gain valuable experience in understanding and awareness of others.

• Familiarization with a future university or school

Most often, classes at a football camp are held on the campus of a school or university, which gives students the opportunity to take a closer look at the educational institution before submitting their documents to the admissions committee. What an applicant can learn in a few weeks of living in a residence cannot be read on the website! On the other hand, by showing themselves as athletes with high potential, teenagers may come to the attention of a recruiter from one of American universities — and under favorable circumstances, a significant part of tuition fees may be covered by a sports scholarship.

• Rich leisure time and many extracurricular activities

Working within the framework of a school or university campus provides access not only to infrastructure (primarily sports, but not only) of an educational institution, but also to leisure options available to students — from sports clubs and circles to electives.

• Professional personnel

Employees of football camps are highly qualified professionals with higher education in the field of medicine, psychology and physiology: they have not only sports experience, but also the necessary skills for pedagogical and coaching work, not to mention life experience, which helps solve everyday, social and personal problems faced by students.

• Familiarization with American lifestyle

In 9 cases out of 10, along with intensive football training, the camp program includes one or more excursions. These can be iconic sights for the USA, as well as something local that provides a holistic view of American culture and lifestyle.

• English language

Any sports camp at a school and university in the USA — is also an opportunity to improve your English, because the student will have to communicate with peers, coaches and dozens of other people. Immersion in the linguistic environment happens imperceptibly through games, training and informal communication, and the effectiveness of the learning process increases many times over.

Usually camps enroll children from the age of six, although some camps enroll children from 8 or even 12 years old. At the camp they will be closely monitored by counselors (in the USA these are graduates or students of pedagogical universities, highly motivated and professional future specialists, so there is no need to worry that the child will get bored or be left unattended), and a professional coaching staff will provide high-quality training. In some cases, younger schoolchildren may be accompanied by their parents, who can relax nearby while the child is immersed in training, but this is not necessary — instead of parents, a professional guardian can represent the child's interests.

The enrollment of children is non-selective — football camps are open to everyone, regardless of their level of sports training. The task of the manager and administration of the camp in this case is to select an optimal program and group according to the level. Groups are small — from 5 to 20 people. Classes in the younger groups are filled with play components, but as children get older, the presentation of material becomes more strict and serious.

The duration of classes can vary from a couple of weeks to several months, even a semester or year. In the latter case, summer vacation smoothly transitions into the school year.

Some football camps, along with training, offer lessons in English, mathematics or natural sciences. In some cases this is included in the program, in others lessons are held for an additional fee, as an elective or individual classes. The intensity of such classes can vary widely, from 12-15 to 26-30 academic hours per week. In addition to English and school subjects, these may include other foreign languages, such as French, Spanish, Japanese or Korean.

When choosing a sports soccer camp in the USA, most parents want to have a comprehensive understanding of where their child will spend their vacation, what they will eat, where and under what conditions they will live, and who will entertain them during their free time. It is important to find out in advance about possible additional expenses for excursions, electives and extra classes.

80% of summer American soccer camps are organized on the basis of secondary or higher educational institutions in the USA. Such camps can boast excellent conditions for training, the best equipment, modern gyms and excellent fields, comfortable locker rooms and places to relax. They employ the best coaches, educators, counselors and medical personnel.

The menu differs from what is offered in a regular camp: it is based on the intensity of training, their number and recommendations of professional nutritionists, because the number of calories for an athlete is no less important than the quality and variety of food. If necessary, parents can agree with the camp administration on the special needs of the child, for example, kosher, halal or vegetarian diet.

On the other hand, sometimes children need to be pampered, so on weekends students can arrange a barbecue, fry kebabs or visit a local pizzeria or Chinese restaurant.

Regarding accommodation, it is most often a campus residence or host family, and each option has its advantages.

1. For example, communicative and active teenagers will be comfortable among their peers on campus, choosing this type of accommodation will save a lot of time on the way to the training base and back, not to mention the fact that you don't want to part with your teammates for a minute — they are still friends, and with friends in the summer every minute is a joy.
2. Host families are suitable for younger students: according to the law, they are entitled to a guardian anyway, so you can combine legal status and functional role. In addition, this is a good solution for introverts, as well as those who are not yet very independent and struggle with care — in a host family all these functions are taken over by the guardian. Another non-obvious but significant plus of living in a host family is full immersion in American everyday life. Participating in family breakfasts and dinners, holidays, and jointly solving household issues, the you seem to be in a movie where you yourself are in the main role.

Living conditions in a family and on campus differ, but not radically: in the first case it is a room in which the child will live alone or with a peer of the same sex, in a boarding school format, from 2 to 6 children live in a room. Amenities can be either separate (shower, bath and toilet in the room) or shared on the floor. Older teenagers are traditionally given the opportunity to live in separate rooms.

The schedule of the students is extremely busy. Wake-up time is usually between 7:00 and 8:00, followed by breakfast, after which students begin morning training sessions that last until lunch. After lunch there is one or two hours of free time: you can rest, study a language, or take extra training. Then comes another block of training, and on competition days — matches, after which it's time for individual or group additional classes — and so on until dinner. There are no more trainings after eating: students relax or study English. Lights out — between 22:00 and 23:00.

Sending a child on vacation to a soccer camp in America is not cheap. A week of classes with accommodation will cost $1500-2700 depending on the camp, intensity of training and chosen program. Along with training, accommodation and meals, the cost may include various awards and incentives such as medals and certificates, clothing and attributes with camp symbols. Also, additional sports electives, excursions and other entertainment programs, uniforms, sports equipment are usually included in the payment, and if necessary — textbooks. However, long-term multi-day trips and excursions may require additional expenses, as well as individual classes or master classes.