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Operations

How to run a youth sports camp

Parents judge a camp on four moments, and none of them is the coaching: whether drop-off was chaotic, whether anyone knew about the allergy, whether their child was happy at lunch, and whether pick-up was safe. Get those right and the sport takes care of itself.

28 September 20269 min readLigue

Ratios first, everything else second

Your staffing ratio determines how many children you can take, what activities are possible, and whether your insurance is valid. Decide it before you decide anything else.

Requirements vary by jurisdiction and by the age of the children, and your insurer or governing body will specify a minimum. Whatever it is, staff above it rather than at it — because somebody will be off sick in week two and you cannot suddenly find a qualified adult at 8am.

Plan your ratio assuming one staff member is absent. The camp that has no margin is the camp that turns children away on a Tuesday morning.

Drop-off is the whole first impression

A hundred children arriving inside fifteen minutes is a queue problem, and the first Monday sets the tone for the week.

  • Two entry points, two staff, both checking children in to the same list.
  • Scan rather than read names. A QR check-in moves a queue several times faster than a volunteer working down a printed sheet, and gives you an arrival time rather than a tick.
  • Have the medical and pick-up information available at the door, not in a folder in an office.
  • Know before Monday who has not arrived and be able to see it, because a parent will ring.

Allergies and medical information

Collect it at registration as an ordinary field, not by asking parents to email you separately. Then make sure it reaches the people who need it:

  • The person at the door at drop-off
  • Whoever is supervising lunch
  • Every staff member with the group that child is in

Information that is technically on file but not visible at the moment it matters is functionally missing. If a staff member has to go and find someone to check whether a child can eat something, the system has failed.

Pick-up authorisation is not optional

Who is allowed to collect each child should be collected at registration, and the person at the gate at four o’clock should be able to see it without making a phone call.

Have a defined process for the exception — the grandparent nobody has met, the parent whose arrangements changed today. “We will call the registered contact and confirm” is a policy. “Use your judgement” is not.

Plan the day, then plan for it going wrong

A camp day needs more structure than a training session because the children are with you longer and will find the gaps.

  • Block the day into sessions with transitions, rather than running one long activity.
  • Have a wet-weather version of every day, decided in advance. Improvising an indoor plan for ninety children at 9:15 does not go well.
  • Build in more water and shade breaks than feels necessary, particularly for younger groups.
  • Plan the last thirty minutes deliberately. Tired children plus an unstructured wind-down is where most incidents happen.

Take attendance per session, not per day

Children move between groups, arrive late and leave early. Per-session attendance tells you who is actually in front of which staff member at any moment, which is what ratios mean in practice and what you will need if anything goes wrong.

It is also your participation evidence if the camp is funded by a grant.

Price it with instalments and be clear about extras

Camps are often bought by families under time pressure, comparing options. Make the total cost obvious and state what is included — lunch or not, kit or not, extended hours or not. Families discovering an extra on day one is the fastest way to sour a week.

Offer instalments for multi-week bookings. A family booking three weeks at once is your best customer and should not have to pay for all three in June.

The four parents actually judge

Drop-off that moves. Someone knowing about the allergy without being told twice. A child who was happy at lunchtime. Pick-up where the person at the gate knew who was authorised.

How this works in Ligue

Camps and clinics handles short-form registration with capacity and waitlists, instalments for multi-week bookings, staff assignment per session, and QR check-in at the door that doubles as attendance — with medical notes and pick-up authorisation on the child’s record, visible to the staff you give access to.

Running a camp: common questions

What staff-to-child ratio do we need? +

Your insurer or governing body sets the minimum and it varies by jurisdiction and age group. Whatever it is, staff above it rather than at it, because someone will be absent and you cannot find a qualified adult at short notice.

How do we manage drop-off for a large camp? +

Two entry points with two staff checking into the same list, scanning rather than reading names. A QR check-in clears a queue several times faster and gives you arrival times instead of ticks.

Where should allergy information live? +

On the child’s record from registration, and visible to the people who need it at the moment they need it — the door, lunch supervision, and every staff member with that group. Information on file but not visible is functionally missing.

How should pick-up authorisation work? +

Collected at registration and visible to whoever is at the gate without a phone call, with a defined process for exceptions. "We call the registered contact and confirm" is a policy; "use your judgement" is not.

Should we take attendance per day or per session? +

Per session. Children move between groups, arrive late and leave early, and per-session records are what tell you who is with which staff member at any moment — which is what a ratio actually means.

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