Reading through the Champions parent surveys following summer at camp, we noticed something pretty amazing.

Lots of great stuff in there, but one word showed up more than any other.

More than “activities.”

More than “counselors.”

More than “lake” or “fun” or any of the things you might expect.

The word?

Friends.

In almost three-quarters of the responses (yes, we counted), parents mentioned friendships as one of the top things their kids loved most about camp.

Actually, not just mentioned it, but emphasized it.

Celebrated it. Said it was the best part of camp and the #1 reason their kids are coming back this summer.

That one word says so much.

The Changing Neighborhood

The world has changed for kids, and we all know it.

There was a time when friendship just kind of happened by walking out the door and seeing what was going on out in the world.

Finish homework, grab the bikes, and show up at the same spot where everyone else would eventually show up, too.

Play until the streetlights buzzed on, head home, and do it again the next day.

Those friendships ran deep.

Kids weren’t better at making friends. But a hidden structure was already there in plain sight.

Same time, same place, same kids, day after day after day.

Now? Not as easy.

School, homework, practices, lessons, and a ton more mean kids and parents are busier than ever. The schedules are packed.

Devices mean they are more likely to stay inside and interact online.

The natural rhythms that used to build deep friendships are tougher to find, not because anyone chose it, but because life just works differently now.

But camp still holds on to the things that work.

Friendship Takes Structure

The thing about those old neighborhood friendships: they weren’t actually spontaneous.

There were rules. Meeting times. Clear boundaries about where you could go and when you had to be home. Places everyone knew to show up.

Deep friendship doesn’t happen by falling out your front door or wandering around a neighborhood aimlessly. It takes time together, shared experiences, and a structure that means connection.

Camp recreates this intentionally summer after summer.

We strip away the logistics, the screens, the social hierarchies.

We give kids time, structure, and freedom within that structure. And what’s left?

Just making friends.

The scaffolding is invisible to the kids, but for us, it’s deeply intentional.

The Four Levels

Within Champions, every camper belongs to four clear communities, each one reinforcing connection in different ways:

Cabin Group – Home base. Eat meals together, do daily debriefs at bedtime (“what went well today, what are we looking forward to tomorrow”), clean the cabin together, and build the closest bonds.

Age Group – Most activities happen within this group. Kids choose what they want to do from a list of camp activity options, but whatever they roll with means they’re mostly doing it with peers their own age. Every day brings new opportunities to connect.

Girls Side or Boys Side – Special moments like Torchlight gatherings create a sense of cohesive identity. “We’re 200 boys hanging out together,” or “We’re the girls’ side and we’ve got this.”

Whole Camp – Traditions, songs, Trojan-Spartan games. These build a universal sense of “we all belong here together.”

Each level matters.

Each one creates different kinds of bonds.

And the overlapping design means every camper has multiple communities they’re part of simultaneously.

What This Creates

When you give kids time together, clear structure, and shared experiences, deep friendships just, well, happen.

These aren’t the weak connections kids build through tech.

These are real friendships, tested by living together 24/7, strengthened by inside jokes and shared challenges and moments that only happen at camp.

Where else do kids get this kind of clear belonging at multiple levels?

Where else do they spend entire days, for weeks on end, with the same group of people?

Camp is still a neighborhood with a ton of fun going on all the time.

Seventy percent of families said friends at camp mattered most.

And, next summer, we’re going for 100%.

Erec Sir