<p>Just wondering if there are camps for distance runners. If so, which are the better ones to attend?</p>
<p>My child loved the XC and Track and Field camps at Stanford. They are usually held in July and both camps combined for a total of 10 days on campus. All coaches were accessible and involved and the kids from the team played a big part in the camp and were a lot of fun. The daily schedule included guest speakers such as someone from admissions, a nutritionist, and a college athlete panel for questions and answers. Someone also spoke once about becoming a professional and the lifestyle that they led as a pro athlete. There was plenty of organized workouts and training as well as some time to visit the pool and become familiar with campus. If you can find a camp at a school that your child may be interested in attending it is a great way to get a feel for life on campus, meet some students, and of course get a chance to meet the coach. As much as anything, my child enjoyed meeting and befriending others who were similarly dedicated to their sport.</p>
<p>You’ll find that many college cross country teams offer camps over the summer, in addition to camps managed by private organizations. Your best bet might just be to look at the colleges around you or within driving distance, check out their athletics pages, or contact the school directly and ask what camps they offer. To find the “best” camp for your athlete you could look at a few different options. One would be to find the “best” school (athletically speaking, so the school with the strongest results*) and go with their camp. Or you may look for a camp at a school where your athlete may be interested in competing for. Of course you should also consider cost (and group rates as well, as some camps offer discounts if your athlete were to go with several of his/her teammates).</p>
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<li>- A note about “best results”. It doesn’t always mean the fastest time. A program might look great at first glance, fast results and competitive finishes, but what is the athlete progress like? Are athletes barely skimming any time off over the course of their time on the team? Are athletes leaving the team before graduating? (A sign of burnout, overload, or injury). Does the coach just recruit a bunch of good guys each year and rum them into the ground, ruining many but leaving the team with just enough guys to field a strong team? Or is it a coach who might be working with slower guys, but those guys are running better and better each year? Is the program on the rise? Already at the top? Or stagnant in the middle?</li>
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<p>With distance running there is a lot more to consider than just what school had the fastest 5000m performer at the end of the year.</p>
<p>Mom2, you can’t send private messages, so I’ll have to ask here… how much did the camp cost? Did your child attend with the intention of applying to Stanford? Does attending camp at one place help get coaches attention somewhere else?</p>
<p>Key thing to help you find the right answer is to know if your child wants to go to camp to learn better or different training techniques and get some pointers or if you want them to go to camp to get more recruiting exposure. Lots and lots of running camps out there. You will find many universities hold them with their own coaches and there are also ones sponsored by companies like Nike, New Balance, etc. where different coaches are brought together at a training location (often times a high altitude ski resort during the summer months). You won’t always just find the university coach at a camp held at their own school, so you need to be clear what you want to get out of the experience regardless of the price.</p>
<p>Camp of champions is a great distance camp at UW Madison. There are sessions help throughout July, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about it.</p>
<p>crazymomster, I remember the cost for each 5 day camp to be right around $800, probably on the high side for campus focused camps but we felt it was worth it. My child attended camp for the training and friendship but also with the intention of getting a better feel for the school and getting some exposure to the coaching staff. Living in a college dorm and meeting college athletes can also give our high school students a motivating view of their potential future. In our experience the only coach contact was with the coaches from the school that were working the camp. I have also heard that the running camp at UW Madison is a lot of fun but do not have direct experience with it. Good luck to your runner.</p>
<p>Some good ideas. I appreciate OnTrack’s response as well. As the summer camp would be between junior and senior year, bottom line… it’s for the exposure/recruiting. Of course we would expect him to gain valuable experience/coaching as well, but that would not be the primary focus.</p>
<p>I will check out the options and look around for more. Hopefully S will have a better idea of which schools he wants to attend by the end of his junior year.</p>
<p>Thanks :-)</p>