This might seem like an obvious number 1, but it cannot be stressed enough! Yes the point of a camp is for kids to learn, but the real reason kids go to camp is so that they can come home exhausted after spending all day running around with their friends and having a blast, only to wake up the next morning and do it all over again! Campers' happiness should always be the top priority (as well as safety) and will leave players and families with a lasting impression that will make them want to come back next year. At Blue Star Lacrosse camps, we make sure that our campers will always leave camp with a positive experience every single day!

ATTITUDE ATTITUDE ATTITUDE! Some of the fondest memories of lacrosse camp growing up coming from the coaches. Campers look up to the coaches that are playing in college or playing for the local high school! That's because the coaches were super engaged and wanted to hang out with the campers. It makes all the difference in the world when a camp coach comes over to a group of kids and asks if they want to have a catch - campers will go home and talk about it with their friends. The coaching staff is where the camp gets all of its "personality" from. It is also important to have a good mix of coaches from older and experienced directors to younger adults and then on to current College players and high school graduates. Blue Star camps will be appropriately staffed!

An excellent lacrosse camp will have overarching themes and fundamental lessons they want to convey to every camper over the course of the camp. This starts with the question "What are the main teaching points we want all campers to walk away from camp with?" For Blue Star, it begins and ends with the fundamentals. The fundamentals at each positions, the fundamentals of stick work, and the fundamentals of team concepts. The focus on fundamentals can be applied to campers of all ages and skills! For the more skilled players, once they demonstrate they know the basics, they can then move on to more advanced skills. Remember, camp is about having fun and learning, so the fundamentals must be taught in an interesting and engaging way!

At it's core, a good Camp needs to have an experienced director or group of directors at the helm. They must have the knowledge, capabilities and experience in order for the camp to be run effectively. The camp directors are the ones that set the tone for the entire camp, starting with the staff who then passes it on the campers. They must also know what to do in every possible scenario such as what to do when it rains, gauging campers energy levels, ensuring proper instruction, proper planning, etc. The directors at Blue Star together have a combined 20+ years of running lacrosse camps for all ages and skill levels.

A well thought-out and carefully planned camp will have the right balance between having fun and learning. A good lacrosse camp should be divided up into three different parts; teaching/demos, small skill sessions, and gameplay. The teaching demos should be done at the right time of the day such as early morning when the campers still have their attention spans, or after lunch when they are still in a "food coma." The skill sessions should be done immediately following the demos so players can put their new knowledge into action. Finally, the gameplay should occur in the afternoon or right before lunch so the campers leave with a positive experience.  

While all campers should leave with a strong understanding of the fundamentals, it is important that each day has it's own particular theme to ensure there is no monotony. If camp gets repetitive, players will lose their interest quickly and that takes away from the teaching environment. Each day at camp should be broken down into it's own teaching point along with a fun-oriented theme. For example, one day could be all stickwork themed where the skills sessions are focused on stickwork, the afternoon is focused on games in tight spaces (where stickwork is important) and the prizes are given to the winner of a stickwork challenge. 

Every lacrosse camp has something about it that players will always remember long after they are gone. They will remember the spontaneous water balloon fight, the dodgeball tournament, the capture the flag contest, or the overtime in the camp championship game. The memorable parts of camp are not necessarily all the learning and repetitions but rather the stuff that was a surprise or too much fun to forget. These activities that make every camp unique is what people will mention when talking about the camp to a friend! For the camps this summer, we have a lot of exciting surprises hidden up our sleeve! We don't want to give it all away!