It is important for the development of fundamental movement skills to become proficient in all types of movements, regardless of the sport a camper prefers. This benefits their overall athletic and personal development, and also helps to lessen the risk of a chronic overuse injury. Engaging in multiple sports and movements is also important to developing other important aspects of being a skilled athlete: including game-sense, strategy and anticipatory skills, and mental skills. It’s how some of the best athletes became so successful, including Roger Federer and Steph Curry. In short: we do it to make the campers better athletes!

More information can be found here and here.

Why aren't they doing a sport?

Depending on what the sport is, we may or not be able to include that into our camps going forward. We may not be doing the sport due to facility and equipment access. If we have the equipment and facilities for a requested sport, we might be able to schedule some time for it later in the week.

Why are they outside/inside?

Facility space is a consideration for us, so we usually schedule all camps to have both indoor and outdoor blocks. Some sports need to be done outside given the equipment and facilities (eg. track and field, soccer, etc.) as we are not able or allowed to do these activities indoors. We also move inside for camper safety when the weather is poor (eg. excessive rain or storms) and when the air quality is poor (once the air quality is at 7, or sometimes when it is 5-6 depending on the group of campers).

My child has this need:

Behaviour

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Do you have any strategies or suggestions for us going forward to ensure a great experience at camps?

Medication

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We will make a note of it and ensure that all of our coaches know where this medication is stored should your child need to take it (eg. inhaler). Is there anything else we need to know about this medication (eg. associated behaviours we should be aware of, etc.)?

Early Pick up

No problem! What time exactly will you be picking up your child? Okay, looking at our schedule for the day, we will be at X location at that time. Please meet us at X location and we can sign your child out. If for some reason you arrive at the location and we are not there soon, please give the front desk a call to connect with our admin staff who can find us.

[NOTE: You can have them come to the location you are confident you will be located at at the given pick up time, or you can select a location that one of the coaches will bring the camper to (eg. sign in/out area)]

Late drop off tomorrow

Thanks for letting us know. Looking at our schedule, we will be at X location at that time. You can find us there, and we can sign your child in at that time. If you cannot find us when you arrive, please give the front desk a call and the can connect you with our camp admin to locate us.

Leave for appointment and return

No problem, thanks for letting us know. Looking at our schedule, we will be at X location when you come to pick them up and Y location when you drop them back off. For pickup, please meet us at X location so we can sign out your child. When you come to drop them off, please meet us at Y location so we can sign them back in again. If you cannot find us, please give the front desk a call and they can connect you with our camp admin to locate us.

Previous experience with another camper

[negative experience]: Thank you for letting us know. We will keep an eye on them and give the two campers more space from each other when possible.

[positive experience/friends]: We can try to ensure the two campers are together when possible, but we also want to make sure they have the opportunity to meet new friends throughout the week.

Snack breaks and lunch concerns:

Concern with the length of breaks being too long

We take breaks to ensure the campers are getting enough rest since we otherwise have a full day of activity. Our snack breaks are 15 minutes and our lunch break is 1 hour, which is both for the kids to get time to eat their lunch but also to ensure coaches have their allotted 30 minute lunch break. There are times when these breaks end up being extended, so I'll keep an eye on the time today/this week to make sure we are sticking closely to those scheduled breaks.

Movies and screen time during lunch

We play a movie during lunch hour to allow the kids to have something to keep them engaged over the hour break. We have found that without playing a movie, some of the kids can get restless and end up not taking the full rest break. If you do not want your child to watch the movie, we can have them sit elsewhere for lunch. At snacks, we do try to keep the kids off of their phones but that is not always the easiest ask for many campers. Again, we can try to make sure your child does not use their phone during breaks if that is what you would prefer.

Alternatives

Purchasing lunch

Unfortunately we do not allow campers to purchase food from the nearby vendors [Chopped Leaf/Booster Juice/Tim Hortons] or the vending machines. This is primarily because we do not have the staff to be able to manage kids at these locations. If you could please pack a lunch for your child instead, that would be really appreciated.

[NOTE: If the parent is adament that the only option is for the child to purchase a lunch, bring in an admin member to support you with that discussion with the parent.]

Parking:

How to set up the QR Code parking pass with Honk instructions are listed here.

NORTH: Stadium Parkade, Varsity Field

SOUTH: Foote Field Parking lot, Saville Lot J parking (First rows are paid, make sure you complete QR Code parking pass)

LISTER: Lister Surface lot

Sign Out Issues

Talking to parent at sign out about an altercation during camp:

Hello, [Parent's Name if you know it ]. My name is [Coach's Name], I am one of [Childs Name]'s coaches from the summer camp. I wanted to speak with you about an incident that happened today with your child, [Child's Name].