The summer camp brochure is a sales document. Glossy photos, smiling kids, “elite training,” and three pricing tiers. It tells you everything except what the kid will actually do for six hours a day.
What the brochure hides
Coach-to-kid ratio. Most brochures don’t print it. The actual ratio at most camps is 1 to 12 or worse. The camp that publishes 1 to 8 is the camp worth considering.
Hours of actual instruction. A 6-hour day at a sports camp often includes 2 hours of waiting, 1 hour of lunch, and 30 minutes of “ice cream social.” The actual coaching time is 2.5 hours. Ask for the hour-by-hour schedule.
Who the coaches are. “Former college player” can mean anything. Get names. Look them up. Are they currently coaching anywhere?
Sleep schedule for overnight camps. Lights out at 11. Wake-up at 7. That’s not enough sleep for a 10-year-old running drills all day.
Refund policy. Most sports camps don’t refund. If the kid is sick, hurt, or hates it, you eat the cost.
The questions that surface the real camp
Email the camp these. The answers tell you everything.
What’s the coach-to-kid ratio in our age group?
Can you walk me through what a Tuesday looks like, hour by hour?
Who are the lead coaches for this session, and what’s their current role?
How do you handle a kid who is hurt or homesick?
What’s your refund policy if we have to withdraw?
Camps that respond with detailed answers are camps you can trust. Camps that respond with marketing copy are camps you can skip.
The signal that should make you walk
The camp that emphasizes “elite” or “performance” or “college prep” for ages 8-10. None of those words apply to that age group. The camp using them is selling status to parents.
How to evaluate a summer camp is the deeper version. How to vet a camp for safety is the safety read.