Summer is finally upon us, which can only mean one thing…it’s summer basketball camp season! Here at Pro Skills Basketball, we are entering our 13th year of hosting summer basketball camps, and we have more camps than ever happening in our PSB Cities across the country!

Personally, I love basketball camps! Growing up, my summers we packed with week after week of basketball camps….and maybe there was a baseball camp thrown in there one summer, but that’s beside the point. Camps were crucial for my development socially and athletically. A well structured summer basketball camp can have a tremendous impact on young players. That’s why I’ve compiled a list of the top 5 benefits of summer youth basketball camps.

5 Benefits of Summer Youth Basketball Camps

#1 Basketball Camps are Fun

I’ll start with the obvious…the vast majority of kids that come to our summer basketball camps have a fantastic time!

The goals of every single camp we do are the same: to get better while having fun at the same time.

Camps allow players to get back to the fun of playing without the pressures of league standings, games stats, crazy fans or screaming spectators and coaches.

With a mixture of free playing, drills, games and competitions, basketball camps allow young players to simply enjoy learning and playing the game of basketball.

#2 Learn from Different Coaches

There are a lot of great coaches out there! During my time playing school and AAU basketball, I had some of the best coaches you could ask for, but some of the greatest teachers of the game I ever crossed paths with were at summer basketball camps.

I still vividly remember learning a ball-handling drill at a camp one summer from a coach that I never saw again, but I continued to do that drill all the way through my playing career….and I don’t ever remember that coach’s name!

To learn as much as you can about basketball, players should seek to learn from as many coaches as possible. Basketball camps give players the opportunity to soak up the basketball wisdom from many coaches over an extended period of time. What a great opportunity for those looking to improve!

#3 Basketball Camps are Challenging

One of my favorite things to do is to ask campers on the second day of camp, “Who is sore this morning?”. I love to hear the groans and see the hands go up. Not because I like to hear the players pain, but because I know that in order to improve, players must be challenged. We are constantly finding the balance of helping our summer campers have fun but also learn what it takes to truly get better at the game of basketball.

If our campers come in the second day of camp and are not sore, then they were not active enough. They were not challenged enough. An entire week of running, jumping and sliding is challenging, but when it’s also fun and helps a player improve, the challenge is worth it!

If you do find you are sore after a challenging day of summer camp check out this 10-Minute Stretch & Recovery Session on our YouTube Channel!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RcmBRchRhg[/embedyt]

#4 Meet & Compete Against New People

I can’t tell you how many kids have become friends at our summer basketball camps. Players meet kids from different schools, different teams and different league.

Some players walk in as strangers, and by the end of the second day of camp, they are having sleepovers at each others houses and talking about playing for the same teams next year.

Summer youth basketball camp is a tremendous opportunity to hangout with people that you might not otherwise get the opportunity to hang out with.

It also gives players a chance to play against new competition. I always loved playing against players from a different team or league. It opened my eyes to how many good players are really out there and that made me work even harder!

#5 Cool Gear and Prizes

I’ve saved the most materialistic benefit for the end…but it’s still pretty cool. I still have my collection of summer basketball camp shirts from when I was a kid. The collection is a very cool keepsake!

This summer all Pro Skills Basketball summer campers will receive a free t-shirt just for coming to camp! And that doesn’t include the other prizes that campers will have the opportunity to win through games and competitions. 

Walking away from a fun week of basketball camp with some new apparel or equipment is always fun!

With these 5 benefits to attending, how can you not love summer basketball camp?!?

This summer we will be running camps in Charlotte (NC), Denver (CO), DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV), Houston (TX), Nashville (TN), Philadelphia (PA), Raleigh (NC), and Richmond (VA).

Read more about our summer basketball camps here, or sign up now!