How to Choose a Summer Camp for Youth Hockey Players

When the summer sun hits, every hockey parent starts facing the ultimate power play - selecting the perfect hockey camp for their young athlete. Andrew's heartfelt letter kicks off our heartfelt discussion on aligning camp choice with your child's passion and developmental stage. We lace up and glide through the myriad of options from skills camps to day camps, sharing how the right mix of fun and skill development can light the lamp for kids of all ages. And for those with sights set higher, like college hockey, we offer strategies to find a camp that's less about the flash-in-the-pan tricks and more about nurturing long-term growth, both on the ice and off.

But the game of choosing a camp isn't just about the slapshots and hat tricks. It's also about fostering a rich, well-rounded summer experience that includes cultural and social enrichment. This episode isn't just a solo breakaway; we team up with experts who share crucial play-by-plays on camp logistics, from coach-to-kid ratios to coach qualifications. And as we wrap up, we shift from the rink to the pickleball court, celebrating the joy of watching our kids dive into diverse activities, and maybe, just maybe, giving us a chance to hang up our coaching hats and simply enjoy the game from the stands. So, get your gear ready for a summer that scores big on memories, development, and good old-fashioned fun.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:59

Hello hockey friends and families around the world, and welcome back to another edition of our kids play hockey in the summer. Because today's topic is all about summer camps and how to find where your kids should go. There's so many options skills camps, skating camps, checking camps, goalie camps I don't know fun camps 15 ice slots a day with off ice topics and things to go on. Where should you send your kid to camp? And this is all spawning because of a letter we got which I'm going to share with all of you right now. It's very nicely written. I'm going to say this one's from Andrew. We don't give last names. He says good morning Lee, kristie and Mike. It's almost like he knows that we do this in the morning. I put this question on Facebook, but I also wanted to send it to you too. My son is going to be a first year, 12 year, next season. He's a former goalie. He likes offense, loves defense. It sounds like he loves hockey. With summer fast approaching, a lot of hockey camps are pushing for registration for their summer camps, taking cost out of the equation. What do you all look for in a summer hockey camp? I would love to hear your thoughts. That is a great question and it is the time of year when we're airing this that's probably on a lot of minds of a lot of different people. Who wants to start?

Speaker 2: 3:05

Well, first of all, make sure your kid wants to do it. That's really important. Be, desperate because what you think is good for them might not be what they want to do If they're not into it and you're spending all this money on a summer camp and that's the last place they want to be, you're wasting your time.

Speaker 1: 3:23

You're wasting your money, Kristie. Are you saying that a kid might not want to do 12 weeks of power skating? Is that what you're trying to say right now?

Speaker 2: 3:29

That's exactly what I'm saying. We were lucky because my kids wanted to do it. They just love doing summer camps, to a point they didn't want it to. I mean we still went on vacations. We made it work and nothing terribly intense. They didn't want to make it feel like it was hockey year round, but just enough to kind of keep their skills sharp and they just love hanging out with their buddies on the ice. It was usually a more relaxed. We never. When they were little we didn't do anything intense. It was always camps that also blended fun and the coaches would even take them out in the parking lot and they would do hockey outside. They would do other fun things. Especially when they're young, it can be really valuable for you because it gives you a place to take your kids, keeps your kids out of the house and off the video games Wonderful and they're with their buddies win-win. So when they're little, yeah, it can be a great experience for them. As they got older, sophia looked for those more intense camps as she was getting ready to play college hockey. So that's a different animal. But I'll let Mike jump in because he's the camp expert here.

Speaker 1: 4:43

He's a camp director. He's a camp director Mike.

Speaker 3: 4:45

Camp director Mike. Well, I'll pitch my camps in a little bit, but if you so, basically I think you know there's a couple of things that can Chrissy hit on it on a lot of them. That number one is are you looking for a day camp or like a skills camp? If you're looking for a day camp and you're just looking for a camp where the kids are going to have maybe two hours of ice, they're going to do a lot of stuff in the field. Maybe there's a swimming pool involved. Is it a sleep away? Is it a day camp? All depends on the. You know this sounds like a 12 year old, 11 year old kid probably handle a good sleep away camp if they really want that. But then you got to look at the intensity. I always fall to any time I'm working with parents of a player that wants to improve, like not just a day camp, like a player that doesn't want just the experience. Like you know, christy's daughter came with us to do a hockey school in Norway, right, and it was. It was less about the intensity of the camp than it was about the experience of the camp, right so it was a little different.

Speaker 2: 5:37

Oh, it's been out all. By the way, highly recommend that to every young girl out there.

Speaker 3: 5:41

We love it, yeah, but again, it was more about the cultural piece than it was about the like. You know, I remember talking to Christy back then. It wasn't even like well, are they going to work on power skating, are they going to work on this? Again, it wasn't, it wasn't that. It was really all about. Well, this is what they're going to do. They're going to learn a little Norwegian, they're going to eat some Norwegian food, they're going to see off flow and so. So all of that kind of stuff comes into place and I think you can look for that. I know here in the northeast like a lot of kids go like West Point hockey school or or if you're in or you know us, you know all the Minnesota hockey camps. If you go to those things and it's a day camp experience, it's probably something different than maybe what you're looking for. So you got to research that. To Christy's point what is you and your son or daughter want out of the camp? And I always lean towards, especially when the kids get older, try to find something that has longevity in it, like not, maybe not just a camp, like five days is not going to get you better in the long run. It's not going to, it's not going to change habits, it's not going to create a different player most of the time. So looking for, like the long term piece of that, like look for camps. I know, like the camps that I run, we don't like I've gotten out of running camps where it's just you come on Monday, leave on Friday. The camps that I run now are like like an immersive experience of there's a pre-camp discussion, there's there's three or four pre-camp phone calls and homework and preparedness, and when you come to camp on Monday, we know you, we know what you want, we know we're going to do, you know what we're going to get out of you, and then when you leave, there's follow-up. Right, and to me that's like I'd rather pay. I'd rather see a parent pay more money with less kids and more instruction than a little bit of money. And or pay a you know a fee with 70, 80, 90 kids on the ice, even if it's a skills camp, and never get any really individualized instruction or looks, or you know, it all depends on your kid. If you just want, if you just want reps, yeah, then there's a. There's a million camps to get reps in. But if you want real. You know, if you're like this, this person's son is going from goalie to playing now defense, really loves defense. Well then you want to go. Maybe you want to go with defense specialist camp, like Mike weaver's defense first at the Harvey school in August, but it is. But if you're looking for, but if you're looking for like daily camps, then then there's, there's a ton of those and I think at the end of the day I oh, if you're, if you have like a nine, ten, eleven year old kid and they're a little nervous, they don't meet friends. Well, and we've talked about this before, christie, right, they go to a camp with a couple of friends. Find a way. And I would tell you this too, if you went to I mean, I went to howie meeker hockey school back in the day in potstown, new York, at potstown uh state college, and I would have never went as an eleven year old ever. It wasn't for like the four guys I went with, but you know what, I met 50 like. So it was in, you know. So I had that comfort of being away for the first time in my life, but I also had the fact that I could fall back on friends and you know what happened. Those friends had other friends and we became and also you have different pods of kids and you know so many kids that were at the camp were better than me, so they were got, they got put in a different group and I ended up being in the in the, in the crappy group. So you know, but those people are just nice, you know, they're 11 years old or 11 year olds, and I think that's where you know. Look for that experience, embrace the time you have for the summer. Again, if you're looking for real skill development, look for something, a program that gives you, you know, eight or nine weeks of development, as opposed to five days with two hours a day. I don't think it translates very well without the follow up and the pre-workout.

Speaker 2: 9:14

Are there sites that parents can go to where there's reviews or ratings or anything like that?

Speaker 3: 9:21

Well, you would say hockey does a great job of summer camp guide. They do. I think they still do it. They have a really great summer camp guide and not only in a magazine, right, but online now or the online version. But it's a really good, I think, starting point. Now I understand a lot of that is paid into, but it's a starting point. You know what? And if you could pay for a camp and be able to afford to do that, you're probably doing pretty well anyway, Right. So it's just a matter of looking and saying well, you know and I think you know, we've said this even at every level hockey ask a teammate, ask another parent. You heard somebody went to camp. Hey, what do you think about that camp? Oh, you loved it, you know, but the food was horrendous, like so, if you go there, you know, make sure you're packing food. Or I had to go there on Wednesday because nobody changed my kid's sheets, for you know whatever I don't know or there's no laundry service, Like if you're at a sleepway camp all those little things make or break your experience in a hot camp.

Speaker 2: 10:16

And again, a lot of the teams Always ask the coach kid ratio. Because we were duped into one camp where you know, we had even asked you know what's the coach kid ratio and they didn't tell us that they were using high school kids and not, you know, certified coaches.

Speaker 3: 10:36

It was a day camp. It was just like a.

Speaker 2: 10:38

It was like a yeah, we were a little disappointed because at that point the kids were wanted to learn some skills from certified coaches and they weren't, and they didn't. So really ask them tough questions Like well, who are your coaches and you know how many kids per coach and what level are they? What skill level are the coaches? Those are really good questions to ask too.

Speaker 3: 11:03

Yeah, and I just want to say one thing too, lee, when you're setting this up because I've been doing this with players right now, like this, summers and late spring and summer are really great times to negotiate with ice rinks and say, listen, I want two hours a week on this time at this rink, and then you go out and get six or eight kids and you make your own camp experience. You find, to Christy's point, you go out and find that coach you love, that college guy that's home college girl that's home. Like if it was me and I had. You know, sophia burns around for the summer and she was looking for extra work and it's a hell of a lot better than babysitting. Like you say, listen, I want you to take my 10 girls and I want you to train them for eight weeks and I want all of the things that you've learned over your experience and I'm gonna pay you a premium for that. You know. So, between ice time and you know again, in my part of the country, here in the Northeast, and certainly in Fairfield County, in Westchester, you probably need maybe more than 10, maybe need 12, 13 kids to make the ice, you know, palatable. You know, with six, 25 an hour. But if you're up in, you know Syracuse, new York, you're probably gonna get ice for like 250, 300 bucks in the summer and to take that, divide it by six or seven. Kids pay a college kid to work with your players and say we want, and then come up with a syllabus. And you know that's what I do every day for right now college, especially in La Crosse. I do it all the time. Like kid comes home from school I say here, here's six players, why don't you work them out all summer and you work with them and here's the specific things they need. And let me tell you something it is like the best experience those kids have and it's so cheap for them. They can miss one or two because they're going away or they're going you know they're going away to a different camp or like, so it's not a burden on the group that if one or two kids miss it doesn't hurt and financially it is, it's a great, great ROI. So there's thinking about other ways to look at the camp. Experience is really, really important because at the end of the day you know you're the consumer and you can create that environment you want. It doesn't always have to be, you know, plug and play.

Speaker 1: 13:06

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 13:06

Mike, that's a great idea.

Speaker 1: 13:08

It is and it's funny you bring it up and I don't mind talking about this on the air because I've been kind of courted about doing that with several families in the off season. I'll tell you what when I was in college I definitely did it. In fact I looked forward to the summer to have the opportunity to teach. I didn't realize then that that was an early sign I was probably going to end up as a coach because at that time in my mind I was still an athlete. I was just helping other kids. But yeah, I think that if you do a small group you can make that insanely fun and it doesn't even have to be on the ice, right, you can be doing an off ice camp for kids to get out in the sunshine and just, you know, play and have some fun being competitive in a kind of a safe off ice environment. I'm not against on ice either, but look for this episode, guys. I'm actually more of a listener than a talker. You know my kids are young. I can tell you these things that I've recognized. My son just signed up for his second year of the Goli Doctor camp, which, mike, is a one week camp with our friend Matt Tenler, who's actually going to be on our next episode of our kids play Goli. But this is why he's going back. One is last year. He ended it with hey, I love this, I love hockey. Two, from a goal tending standpoint, well, I think what he really loved, the instruction is first class. So that's, that's first off. So he definitely learned something last year. But you know what he said to me, that was. It kind of puts it in perspective for you as a parent. I met all these other gold tenders and now when I play in a game I know most of the time who the other gold tender is, because I went to camp with that kid, which is really cool to hear, right, especially at his age. You know, 10, 10, 11 years old, that there's a camaraderie here and you look, gold, gold tenders a little bit of a different operation there in hockey, right, there's a different camaraderie there and a different understanding of the game. So I signed them up for that. But I also signed them up for a day camp away from hockey and and for my daughter, who's seven this is the first year she's so in interest in potentially going to it, to a hockey camp, and I know for her. It's like you guys said, it's got to be a fun kind of event. It's not just about skill development. Yet I'm going to reiterate what I've said in several episodes you have an older kid. It's looking for skill development. That's great too If they want to do that. But, as Christie said, as Mike said, quarter round, look around, see what's going on there, see if you can Find something specialized. I think I would recommend that to high-level athletes. But One of the best things I have to say this, and and it was you too that guided me through this One of the most important and best decisions I've made thus far in coaching youth hockey, which I've been doing for about five years now, so I can say this is we take the spring off Good, it's almost the non-negotiable for now might change later in the future. But I'm gonna tell you parents, yes, I have FOMO of every kid doing spring league. I want my kids to do spring league. I feel that other skills might Take the spring off. If you can, I'm telling you it was the best decision. A you start to realize how much you need that break, not just your kids To is. It's healthy for your kids to maybe be off the ice for a little bit, both from up, from a healing standpoint, but also a mental standpoint right? They're not gonna lose their skills over over the spring, right? And whatever they do lose because you always lose a little bit they're gonna get back in two weeks when they get back on the ice, right? So I'm kind of making the point here of careful with year-round hockey. All right again, if your kid is severely driven, I get it. I was that kid. I didn't ever want to come off the ice. But I'm telling you it's okay to take a break. It is okay for you to play baseball, lacrosse, soccer, get outside when the Sun is up. These are okay things to do. You don't have to do a full summer of hockey camp. You can do a month or a week in some situations. Mike, I do agree with you that your expectations have to be very clear if you're doing that, right. But it doesn't have to be all Hockey all the time for the betterment of your kids hockey development, especially if you're trying to make a team. I mean, there's so many, so many FOMO reasons. You know the fear of missing out, for anybody doesn't know what that means for you to choose something and I always say don't make the decision on that right, because there's no magical hockey camp that you go to, including USA hockey's hockey camp, for, like the U18 national team, there's no magic camp that guarantees you anything Right but the summers of time to have fun. Am I right? Am I right in my assessment?

Speaker 2: 17:32

I love the lawn chair, grabbing my iced tea right, watching the kids with my sunglasses out in the lacrosse field.

Speaker 1: 17:39

Is it iced tea, though? For real Christie, is that what's in the cup?

Speaker 2: 17:42

No, sugar no sugar.

Speaker 1: 17:43

That's iced tea, mike, what are you drinking?

Speaker 2: 17:45

I'm just kidding, but wow instead of the hot coffee, the hot cocoa right in the in the ice rink. It was nice to. Totally switch gears.

Speaker 1: 17:55

It was beautiful yeah you know, as a coach, I should mention this too, and, mike, I can throw this back at you too in a good way like there's something beautiful for me in watching my kid play a sport that I know very little about. It is. It is Impossible for me to watch hockey and not think about what I'm seeing, right? But when I go watch them play a game that I don't like, I know enough to be dangerous, but I don't know the game. I don't know how to coach the game. Christie, right, I do, sit back. This is fun. Yeah, this is so fun. Look how much fun the kids are having. You just forget about that way, your coach exactly.

Speaker 2: 18:29

Yeah, it's. It's a good mental break for you too, Definitely.

Speaker 1: 18:33

Mike, what's the coach you most want to watch? I mean, sorry, what's the sport you both most want to watch and not go?

Speaker 3: 18:38

Yes, that's the problem with me. I'm not good at that. I'm like you could, you could roll your wrist better. You know if you would have a better backhand there, you could. You can all over the net better. Or you know the way you're holding your hands here. Or you know where the lacrosse stick is. I get too crazy about that kind of stuff Like I'm, because I'm a fundamental guy like I'll watch. I've watched so many sports. Now too, I listen. I just posted a video last week of a BMX biker doing balance drills on a sidewalk and using their outside and inside edges to simulate what I look for on the ice, because I'm trying to get the kids to understand like this is a BM, this is not a BMX bike or a motorbike, you know, like a motorcross and this guy doing all these tricks, going on his front, back, wheel back, spinning, turning. I'm like that's what you do in hockey. It's the same momentum, it's the same movement. So I look at sports, unfortunately, a lot different, because I look at it as oh, I could do that better than that, I mean that's not even fundamentally correct. That's not now. I don't. Now I will say I'm strong, I have a strong enough. I don't go and say anything, I don't, and I can bottle it up pretty good and I don't tell my kids, hey, the coach was teaching you wrong. I don't do that. But I do look at, I watch other coaches coach and like oh, this could be so much more fun. Like why wouldn't you do it? Like why wouldn't?

Speaker 1: 19:56

you make it much funner.

Speaker 3: 19:58

Like why do you really think hitting a ball to seven short stops in a row is fun? Like, do you think the kids are getting something out of that?

Speaker 1: 20:06

I don't, and I can see it because, like I still have those thoughts, I just in the summertime I just go, I'm going to drink.

Speaker 3: 20:12

Yeah, but I, but I'm like, I'm like, listen, if you're going to do it, if you're going to be in it, then be the best, like like, learn what the hell you're doing.

Speaker 1: 20:18

So there's a standard that's like real quick, because we got to get you and I and Christy, you too, we have extremely high standards with our professional work. Absolutely Sometimes I have to to remind myself this person's a volunteer and this is not their job, like it is for us right and it's and I it's not easy, but I have to remind myself like hey, they're volunteering and then you got to follow your own advice, or hypocritical Like, if I think I can do it better, I got to volunteer and go coach. So my coach is 17 sports. Look to end this, mike. I think this is what we need to do. Christy, you tell me if you agree, we got to make a new team and a new show called Our Parents Play Pickleball, all right, and we're going to make a pickleball team and what we'll do is we'll bring in a licensed therapist to be on the team you know, to play pickleball with us, if you know what I'm trying to say. But Mike, no, I'm just Mike. I get it. I get what you're saying. I just I think it's important to turn that off or or push those feelings aside sometimes, to make sure you get a break too.

Speaker 3: 21:19

No doubt about it. I think that's what's fun about watching the kids do. I was like, okay, I will say, when I watch my, my younger son, play chess, there's where I draw the line, like I'm like I don't know what the hell you just do. Like I don't even know how you won.

Speaker 2: 21:33

Like I don't even know how you did it. That's so gross though Are they using their inside and outside edge?

Speaker 3: 21:38

Right, right, I do, I do, I do cooking class and chess and things like that. I kind of I tend to say you know what? You're the professional. You know Mike hasn't lost a finger and he hasn't done this, so I'm good. But but overall though, I think, step, step back, please take a break, have some fun, read a little. You know, I was going to say you know grass, but I guess you can't even say that anymore, but just just be just being a really really, really good. Get outside, get some sun, get some vitamin D. There's plenty, there's. There's just all your rink owners out there. We want the kids to go into the rink. Yes, we want them to use their eyes. Yes, we want them, but it just doesn't have to be 24 seven. You know the comp, competition, competition, competition, and just just make it as fun as it is when you go to the playground.

Speaker 1: 22:22

Well, and I think to close this out is a great question from Andrew, thank you so much for being a listener.

Speaker 3: 22:26

We love you, andrew if you live in Westchester County, give me a call Again.

Speaker 1: 22:32

Like Andrew, you can email us as team at ourkidsplayhockeycom If you have any topics you want us to talk about. But look, in closing, I think that it's about finding that, that healthy balance. This is what I've observed from listening to you two finding that healthy balance of a what is it you need as a family? What does your kid want in a summer camp? And then realistic expectations about where they go. And at the end of the day, look, it's so much about what your kid is going to put into it, not what they're going to receive. It's a two-way road. If your kid wants to learn my favorite quote when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. You can put your kid in the top hockey camp in your area. If the student's not ready, they're just going to go. They're going to do the drills and they'll be done, and that's it. But if they can retain the information, love that information. I think there's the rub, right, that's that's where you got to get your mind on it. That's going to do it for this edition. Again, you don't have anything else to say. Guys, right, I'm, I am timing this up.

Speaker 2: 23:25

I hope we answered Andrew's question and we appreciate we've got more questions. Throw them at us, we're ready for them.

Speaker 1: 23:32

Absolutely Again. Team at ourkidsplayhockeycom, or you can find our Facebook group, ourkidsplayhockey. You can DM us, you can send an audio message, you can write it whatever it is. Get those questions over, because we love discussing them here at our Kids Play Hockey. That's going to do it for this episode for Mike Benelli and Kristi Kashi on our Burns. I'm Leo Elias. You can see us on the next episode of our Kids Play Hockey Skate on everybody. We hope you enjoyed this edition of our Kids Play Hockey. Make sure to like and subscribe right now if you found value. Wherever you're listening, whether it's a podcast network, a social media network or our website, ourkidsplayhockeycom. Also, make sure to check out our children's book when Hockey Stops at whenhockeystopscom. It's a book that helps children deal with adversity in the game and in life. We're very proud of it. But thanks so much for listening to this edition of our Kids Play Hockey and we'll see you on the next episode.