More than ever before, parents are asking questions about camp safety.

In fact, it’s one of the top questions we get.

We understand and share this focus.

Everything we do starts with safety, and there are many layers of supervision, regulations, procedures, protocols, staff training, and best practices to back it up.

After the events on the Guadalupe River this summer, Texas parents are correctly thinking about safety in a way they weren’t a few months ago. It’s important to get focused on what matters.

Of course, there are small risks with any kind of outdoor activity. This is camp after all. But we’re committed to taking the big risks off the table.

Let’s talk about how we make that happen.

Choosing to do more

When parents ask about safety at camp, there is a long list of important questions that are implied:

Are your waterfront protocols solid?

Do you have a plan for severe weather?

Is the ropes course regularly inspected?

What happens during a lightning event?

Do you cook burgers all the way through?

How often do kids get to fill their water bottles?

Is there enough staff supervision for every camper?

These are all good questions, and we go above the required safety standards and regulations to be certain we have good answers for them.

We’re an ACA-accredited camp, which means we opt in to meeting over 200 national standards covering everything from staff training to emergency procedures to food service.

We also have the longest staff training of any camp we know of, with counselors arriving two full weeks before the first campers. Our staff and full-time team don’t drink during the summer (really), so they are always ready to do their job at the highest level.

On top of this, we have 6-7 nurses on site each session, and three doctors on call who make regular visits to camp.

Health and safety aren’t just a priority. They’re a foundation.

We do more than what’s required to be sure our campers are taken care of.

An Important Distinction

Here’s where I want to make an important distinction:

Safety and comfort are not the same thing.

We aren’t out there spraying 80 acres with bug spray every morning to eliminate each mosquito. Camp happens outdoors, and outdoors has bugs.

We don’t make every activity easy on the first try. Kids might (and usually do) fall while water skiing five times before they get up.

They might look down from the climbing wall and feel like, whoa, it looks high from up here.

They might sit at the pottery wheel and throw something that, oops, doesn’t look quite how they imagined in their mind.

That discomfort?

That’s not a safety concern. That’s an opportunity for growth.

Kids need the small discomforts that go along with living a big, active life. The whole point of camp is coming to a place where kids are safe enough to be challenged.

Safety means your child is in a place with practiced protocols and deep caring from the whole staff.

Comfort means everything is easy and nothing pushes them beyond what they can already do.

We’re committed to the first.

We’re intentionally not committed to the second.

What This Really Means

In short, we take this stuff seriously.

We do more so you can worry less.

2020 is an instructive example. That summer, we believe Champions was the largest overnight camp in the country to operate without a single case of COVID-19. We studied the protocols, we opted in to doing extra, and we ran a safe and healthy summer.

Sending a camper to camp is a big (and exciting!) choice. We want parents to feel confident that their children are well looked after. Plans, protocols, training, oversight.

All of it. No winging it.

Preparation through and through.

And within that framework, we’re going to challenge your kids.

We’re going to encourage them to try new things, work through a bit of healthy discomfort, and find out that they’re made for it.

Because that’s what builds durable kids.

Have a question about any of our safety protocols? We’re happy to talk through it with you. We want you to feel confident.

But the short answer is simple: Yes, we prioritize safety.

And yes, to another implied question: your child is going to have fun and come home stronger.

Erec Sir