Childhood has range
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One of our campers this summer was an elite U13 quarterback.
This kid has a cannon. High schools recruiting him. Getting all the accolades, all the attention that comes with being really good at one thing.
In the world, he’s a football player. Plain and simple.
But at camp, he did a lot of different things.
Played ping pong. Shot basketball. Spent time at arts and crafts, laughing constantly. He still has to compete for sure, played U15 flag football with older kids, and hit a buzzer-beater shot against our rival camp to win an inter-camp basketball game. Just awesome.
By end of summer, he wasn’t “The Quarterback”. He was just a kid who did cool stuff at camp.
I’m positive this still really matters.
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Having range
David Epstein’s book Range is a great way to think about this, and how camp fits into a world that’s becoming hyper-specialized.
He compares two paths to excellence: Tiger Woods versus Roger Federer.
Tiger started golf at two. Early specialization, intense focus, obviously, became one of the greatest golfers ever.
Federer? Played tennis, skiing, wrestling, basketball, swimming, handball, volleyball, soccer, and badminton well into his teens.
His parents actually forced him to keep playing other sports when he wanted to focus only on running around with a racket.
Epstein hits on something that’s still somewhat counterintuitive: there are way more Federers than Tigers among elite performers.
Most successful people had a “sampling period,” trying tons of things before finding their path.
And Epstein sums it up perfectly with, “Learning stuff was less important than learning about oneself.”
Most of our campers aren’t going to play Division I sports or become professional artists. This isn’t a hot take.
But more and more, kids are being siloed into specific paths without a chance to range out much beyond their one skillset or core interest.
The traditional camp advantage
I love sports. I love competition. Every year I overdraft Bills on my fantasy team just because I want to root for them. It’s a stupid strategy, but it did get me second place in my family league. Sorry brothers.
I also think traditional camps like the ones many of you work at and run might be one of the last places where kids get to resist the pressure to specialize early.
During the school year, it’s easy for kids to get locked into tracks.
One sport all year round.
One instrument, start to finish.
Everything scheduled, everything focused.
And honestly, that’s totally fine. I get it.
Summer camp is different. We’re intentionally designed for a wide range of, well, for lack of better word, stuff.
It used to be commonplace to run around, get up to a bunch of different things. Play different sports. Have different hobbies. But that’s become increasingly rare.
Camp is one of the few places left where kids might do arts & crafts right after playing soccer, right before swimming, which was right after theater. Follow that?
Good.
We’re not anti-excellence. We’re pro range.
That quarterback? Still an incredible athlete.
But at camp, he also got to be creative, collaborative, and curious about things that had nothing to do with football.
Talking to parents
When talking to parents about the camp program, I’m trying to find stories similar to this QB’s experience.
Parents are def feeling the specialization pressure.
Year-round travel teams, elite training programs, constant worry their kid is “falling behind” if they’re not 100% focused.
And it’s not a way they grew up, so they are 100% noticing if it doesn’t feel amazing.
Our camps are trying to carve out a little time to in a world that seems to have a lot less of it.
Honestly, it’s a bit weird to even have to frame it this way. Camp used to be just camp. Kids went for all different reasons.
Camp used to be one of the best places for kids to play sports. We were the sports place because there weren’t enough leagues everywhere. Now that’s not the market. Every town has travel teams.
Same thing’s happening with ropes courses. We used to be one of the only places where kids could try that. Now every mall has one.
Camp is like buying the album when kids can get every song in their pocket.
And they still do.
But if the world is moving one way, and we’re still doing things another way intentionally, then why not point it out?
While also pointing out why trying different things remains a great long-term play for kids.
Frame camp as where childhood gets to have range.
And from a specialization standpoint? That’s special.
You got this,
Jack
Get my newsletter every week.
It’s all about kids today
Jack Schott
Summer Camp Evangelist