Football season is right around the corner. And that means that summer football camps are in full swing. So how should you decide what camp will be best for your development as an athlete and for your pocket? 

Aaron Ingram, senior manager of the U.S. National Team Program for USA Football, believes knowing exactly what an athlete wants to get out of the experience is the most important factor when selecting a camp.  

“When you’re looking at summer camps you need to be specific enough in yourself and be greedy enough to ask yourself what you’re going to camp for,” Ingram said. “Am I going to get better? Am I going to get recruited? Am I going to be with my team? All three of those things are important, but what you get out of a camp is dependent on you asking yourself that question.” 

Ingram also warns athletes to be aware of the coaches that will be at a camp. If you’ve never heard of them or cannot find information on them, then you will not get what you’re hoping for out of the camp. Quality instruction is crucial and if it’s missing at a camp, then you’re better off passing on attending. 

While there are plenty of camps with the mission to further the development of its attendees, Ingram believes there are also camps that are less interested in player development. Ingram cautions athletes to be wary of expensive single-day camps with few athletes enrolled. It is important to get what you pay for and the best camps will provide maximum quality and value for your buck. 

Here are five things Ingram believes you should focus on while selecting a summer football camp: 

Reach out to those you know. To know if a camp is good or not, Ingram tells athletes to reach out to their trusted network of players, coaches and parents for information. If a camp is good then most likely, someone you know has already had a positive experience.

Do your own homework. If you just blindly sign-up for a camp you could miss out on what another camp has to offer. Compare various camps and make a decision based on what you think will help improve your skill set, be applicable to your team and provide the best bang for your buck. 

Make sure the camp has a detailed curriculum. Anyone can line up and do drills. Ingrams believes athletes will know instantly if a camp is a quality camp if it stays on schedule, smoothly transitions from one phase of training to the next and features coaches who know what they are doing. Find a camp that does group, semi-group, 7on7, 11-on-11, position, 2-on-2 and 1-on-1 work.  

Know the player-to-coach ratio. Ingram believes it is critical to receive attention during these camps, and that the best way to make sure that happens is knowing there are enough coaches to really provide instruction to the athlete. A good ratio is one coach to every 10 athletes.

Focus on the quality of instruction. According to Ingram, this may be the most important factor of all. If there is quality instruction, all of these other factors will fall into place. Having quality instruction will be the best thing for your game, for your development and for your team.  

Ingram understands that with the sheer number of available football camps there are bound to be some bad ones out there. But he also knows that what happens at a camp determines the future success of an organization. 

“The people that attend your camp are your best advocates,” Ingram said. “How good, how special and the amount of effort we put into the curriculum all shows how much our finished products means to us. That’s why we do USA Football camps the way we do, because we are about the athlete and their experience first.” 

For more information on the U.S. National Team and its programs click here