Organizing Summer Camps: A Club Manager’s Playbook
- Markus Gaebel
- Sep 23
- 5 min read
Squash summer camps have become a mainstream feature of club programming in the United States—popular with families, effective for player development, and financially meaningful for facilities.
The formula is portable to padel and pickleball: week-based sessions, progressive curricula, small-group coaching, daily match play, and a clear staffing ladder. Operationally, camps monetize off-peak daytime hours, convert juniors into year-round customers, and create retail and café upsides.
Below is a neutral, practical guide for club managers planning or refining a summer-camp program.
Program Design: Structure That Scales
Most camps run in one-week blocks across June, July, and August; families can book one or multiple weeks to fit their schedules. At the heart of the format is segmentation: group by age and/or playing level so beginners and competitive juniors both get appropriate content. Many clubs run day camps as the default and reserve residential (overnight) formats for venues with dorm access or partnerships with schools.
The camp culture matters. Even day camps weave in games, skill challenges, and light multi-sport activities to keep the atmosphere fun and social; some programs end the week with a mini-tournament or skills showcase and small awards. The aim is a compact but motivating environment where juniors see measurable improvement by week’s end and want to return.
Scheduling That Protects Peak Hours
A core operating insight: schedule camps to avoid crowding out evening members. Day camps typically run ~9:00 to 16:00, freeing courts before the after-work rush. Some clubs offer half-day options for younger kids, split-day formats (separate morning and afternoon blocks), or “extended day” versions that stretch into the evening to support working parents. Overnight camps, where offered, use campus housing and add evening social programming, creating an immersive week without taxing your club’s prime-time availability.
An on-the-ground example shows why this timing works: a program that starts mid-morning and ends mid-afternoon fills quiet daytime courts and releases capacity in time for adult traffic.
Staffing: Ratios, Roles, and Guest Coaches
Quality hinges on staffing design. Successful operators advertise low camper-to-coach ratios and keep groups small for meaningful individual feedback. A practical floor rule seen in action: “never more than four students per squash court,” which keeps stations moving and coaching focused. To capture late demand, some clubs hold one court back and sell a daily “drop-in rate” as a safety valve.
The staff ladder typically runs from lead coaches to assistants and junior helpers. This spreads responsibility, offers summer jobs and experience to young players, and keeps head coaches focused on higher-value instruction. Profile also matters: the presence of a well-known guest coach (e.g., a college head coach) tangibly shapes sign-ups; use that gravitational pull intentionally for specific weeks (college-pathway or high-performance themes).
Capacity Planning: Courts, Groups, and Flow
As a rough ceiling, a six-squash-court venue can rotate ~24–30 kids if it sticks to small groups and active stations. Typical weeks for a mid-sized club hover in the low- to mid-teens; “crazy” weeks may reach the high teens by splitting cohorts (e.g., a starter group running alongside a high-performance group). Flagging one or two weeks as “high-performance” (older/identified talents, higher intensity, marquee coach involvement) supports premium pricing and keeps mixed-ability weeks manageable.
Pricing and Revenue Benchmarks
Standard day camps often price in the high hundreds of dollars per week, with elite or residential versions higher, and short clinics led by prominent coaches priced at several hundred dollars. One program’s high-performance week prices “closer to $1,000 per week,” reflecting the premium a name coach and advanced content can command.
The math adds up quickly. A representative example: ~20 campers at ~$600 per week yields roughly $12,000 gross for that week. Stack multiple weeks, layer in higher-priced performance sessions, and totals rise—with minimal displacement of morning-and-evening players. For a venue with six to eight courts, a fully enrolled summer can target in the neighborhood of ~$150,000 over the season, depending on mix, pricing, and weeks offered.
Cost lines are straightforward: coaching payroll, balls and a small equipment buffer, optional snacks/tees, and operational oversight. Because you’re filling otherwise idle daytime hours, there’s little opportunity cost on court time at owned facilities; margins can therefore be attractive once enrollment is steady.
Operations: Daily Run-of-Show
A smooth day typically alternates technical blocks, conditioned drills, and match play with hydration breaks and a lunch window. Keep rotation tight—stations should have a clear purpose and duration so coaches can maintain tempo and feedback quality. Enforce the on-court ratio rule and pre-assign coaches to groups; this reduces idle time and bottlenecks. For risk management, standardize safety briefings (goggles, floors, spacing) and have a first-aid plan and incident log ready.
To accommodate late demand and family logistics, consider:
A limited drop-in inventory at a defined day rate (priced above the pro-rata weekly fee).
Extended day supervision blocks for a fee, staffed by assistants.
A handful of loaner racquets/goggles to remove friction for first-timers.
Marketing and Enrollment
Position camps as both skill-building and community experiences. Lead with age/level segmentation, daily schedule highlights, coaching bios, and ratios. If you run special weeks (college-pathway, elite), spotlight the guest coach and outcomes parents care about (individual attention, match reps, readiness for next season). Open enrollment early, offer a modest early-bird discount, and collect deposits to stabilize cash flow. Track waitlists—if they persist, expand capacity via an added assistant or an extra station rather than inflating group size.
KPIs That Matter
Fill rate by week and segment (beginner/intermediate/high-performance).
Revenue per court-hour during camp weeks vs. baseline daytime utilization.
Re-enrollment rate (same summer and across summers).
Conversion to year-round programs (academy, clinics, private lessons); camps frequently serve as the best funnel into junior academies and recurring memberships.
Parent satisfaction/NPS and on-time pickup/attendance compliance.
Cross-Sport Transferability
This playbook is sport-agnostic. With minor tweaks in drill design, equipment, and court ratios, clubs can lift the model into padel, pickleball, or badminton and expect similar operational and financial outcomes: off-peak monetization, junior pipeline growth, and ancillary sales.
Quick Launch Checklist for Summer Camps
Define weekly schedule blocks and set strict coach-to-camper ratios.
Publish level-based tracks; earmark one or two high-performance weeks for premium pricing.
Secure at least one marquee guest coach to anchor a themed week.
Price standard weeks in the high-hundreds; set clear terms for deposits and early-bird windows.
Hold one court in reserve for drop-ins; cap daily spots and price accordingly.
Script safety, hydration, and facilities workflows; prepare a first-aid plan.
Track KPIs weekly; adjust staffing and stations rather than diluting ratios.
Bottom Line
Summer camps are a win-win: juniors get a concentrated, enjoyable training week, while clubs tap a reliable seasonal profit center that fills daytime courts without compromising member peak hours. With disciplined ratios, thoughtful scheduling, and targeted marketing, a mid-sized venue can turn camps into both a financial pillar and the primary feeder into its junior academy for the year ahead.
Comments