Academy Camps Combines Sports With The Traditional Camp Experience

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Academy Camps
Part Sports, Part Traditional Summer Camp
June-Aug, Suffield Academy
Rising 5^th Graders-Rising 10^th Graders
https://academycamps.com/

Four years ago, Michael Maurillo was living the corporate life, commuting into New York City from Connecticut, when he had an idea: what if you took the traditional summer camp experience and married it with a specialized sports camp? Half the time you would be training in a sport with top-notch coaches and the other have you would enjoy the typical camp experience.

That’s how Academy camps was born and it has steadily grown in each of its four years of operation. Every summer from June to August, students choose one of eight sports – baseball, basketball, football, soccer, squash, swimming, tennis and volleyball – and sign up for any one of the six sessions. Many campers choose multiple sessions.

Academy camps runs out of Suffield (CT) Academy and has the run of the bucolic prep school campus. Kids from rising fifth graders to rising 10^th graders are split up in their respective sports by skill level rather than age or gender. Meals are together with the entire camp and there is plenty of bonding and typical camp activities like bond fires and color wars.

“A close friend of mine and I were working in a shared office space in New York kicking around ideas,” said Maurillo. “He’s been in the summer camp business for decades and we started talking about creating a better sports camp experience by bringing sports camp and traditional camp together. We’re constantly tweaking things and believe we offer something that was missing for kids in the summer.”

Maurillo and his wife, Jen, have been involved in sports their whole lives and were collegiate athletes. Michael played lacrosse at Fairfield and Jen, who is Chief Events Officer at Major League Soccer, played soccer for Michigan.

The Academy Camp experience is very structured and focuses on skill development, rest and recovery and, of course, fun. The day begins at 8:15 a.m. with breakfast followed by a full-camp huddle on the hill. Then it’s off to training in a sport with professional coaches. After lunch, it’s skills, drills and competition. The second part of the day and early evening features elective from spike ball to wellness and mindset performance.

There are no screens or cell phones allowed and the day ends by nine so campers can focus on sleep and recovery. There is a minimum of a 7-to-1 coach-to-camper ratio and a “Varsity Class” which prepares campers for high school varsity teams by helping them become better teammates and leaders.

The camp also hires photographers to take photos of campers every day and post them so parents can see what their kids are up to.

“We believe that we have a good model and are growing at a good pace,” said Maurillo. “As we grow, we want to make sure we don’t lose that personalized experience and we’re very careful about that. We offer the best of both worlds – a traditional summer camp experience and a sports camp where you can get the coaching and training you need to become better at your sport.”