Camp Instructions

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome to Hoops4Life Basketball/Life Skills Camp!!! Below are details for camp sessions at West Seattle HS. You will find very detailed information below.

First, a few bullet points of emphasis:

• DO NOT BRING YOUR OWN BASKETBALL TO CAMP!! HOOPS4LIFE WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST BASKETBALLS!

• WE WILL NOT ACCOMMODATE ANY REQUESTS FOR CAMPERS TO BE PLACED ON THE SAME TEAM WITH THEIR FRIENDS. FIRST, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ACCOMMODATE ALL REQUESTS OF THAT NATURE. SECOND, CAMPERS WILL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO INTERACT WITH THEIR FRIENDS THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND ONE OF OUR MAIN OBJECTIVES IS TO GET EACH CAMPER OUT OF THEIR COMFORT ZONE AND DEVELOP NEW RELATIONSHIPS!

• DOORS WILL NOT OPEN UNTIL 8:30 MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. PLEASE DO NOT COME BEFORE 8:30 UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO WAIT OUTSIDE!

Other important information about camp:

Camp Director

The Camp Director is Colin Slingsby. Coach Slingsby has coached high school basketball for over 20 years and is an English Teacher at Denny Middle School. He will be assisted by Diallo Jackson, a veteran coach at our camps. Coach Slingsby is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the camp. 

Directions

West Seattle High School
3000 California Avenue SW
Seattle, WA 98116
[MAP IT!]

Pick-Up/Drop-Off

First Day

We will open at 8:30 am on Monday morning for registration/check-in. CHECK-IN IS ON THE WEST SIDE OF WEST SEATTLE HIGH SCHOOL AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE GYM! Doors will not open until 8:30!! For ALL campers going into 6th grade or younger, it is mandatory that an adult/guardian come inside for check-in. We will also ask you to confirm t-shirt size on the first day check-in. Please allow yourself enough time for that. We have a check-in/check-out system that will require you, on the first day, to indicate any adults who are approved to pick up your child each afternoon. Please be ready to provide that information. We will also allow pick up of campers to begin at 3:50 each day where they will be with their team and coach under their team sign. Again, for 6th grade and younger, an adult will be required to come to the campers assigned team location for check out.

Remainder of Week

For the remainder of the week we will open the front doors no later than 8:30am for drop-off. Camp will begin at 9am and conclude between 3:50-4pm each day. An adult is required to come inside and check out campers entering 6th grade and younger each day.

Culture/Values

We value inclusion, respecting others, teamwork, being a good teammate, sportsmanship, displaying a positive attitude, and building positive relationships and camaraderie with others.  That is first and foremost what our camp is about! We do not tolerate put-downs, disrespect, bullying, or other negative behaviors. When working with youth in a large program like ours, we know that there will be some breakdowns in some of these areas considering the age of the youth that we involve in our programs.  Our goal is to coach and counsel our participants in how to develop the positive qualities listed above and give them an opportunity to participate in competitive athletic situations using the coaching we’ve given them. Our staff, including our high school age team coaches, go through a several hour training to look for and address inappropriate or negative behaviors, as well as encouraging and promoting positive behaviors.  Please understand that there will inevitably be some frustrations for some campers over a long week of basketball and that some of these frustrations occur in any competitive athletic environment and are necessary for learning. These can and should be treated as teachable moments for us as parents/coaches. These might come in the form of ball-hogging, put-downs, gender dynamics or other negative social interactions. These are things that need to be brought to a staff member’s attention AS SOON AS POSSIBLE if they are happening, so that we have an opportunity to address the concern.  If a camper is consistently causing the experience of other campers to worsen, they will be asked to not participate, or in extreme cases, a parent/guardian will be called, and we will ask that camper to return home for the day or for the week. We will not give a refund if a camper is asked to leave because they are not meeting our behavioral expectations (which are made clear on the first morning of camp and reinforced throughout the week).

Lunch/Personal Belongings

We recommend that each camper bring a sack lunch and water bottle, and nutritious type snacks. DO NOT COUNT ON THE CAMP STORE AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR LUNCH!!! Bringing a backpack or gym bag is usually helpful to keep track of lunches and extra clothing. Campers will be asked to leave their bags in the main gym so that they will be in the sightline of camp supervisors.

Valuables

We advise campers not to bring valuable personal items to camp such as cell phones, headphones, computers, etc. If this is unavoidable, please do not leave these items unattended. See the Assistant Camp Director, Coach Diallo Jackson, if you have a special circumstance and need to secure any valuables. Hoops4Life will not be responsible for lost/missing items. The best way to avoid this issue is to leave them at home!

Closed Campus

Campers will need to remain on campus and with a coach/counselor at all times throughout the day. There is no leaving campus during the day for any camper of any age, no exceptions! Campers of any age who live close to West Seattle HS are prohibited from going home during camp hours. If campers need to leave early on a particular day, then this needs to be communicated to the Camp Director (Coach Slingsby) or one of the assistant camp directors and to the designated counselor/coach of that camper’s team. This is to ensure the safety and whereabouts of all campers. 
 

Staffing

Our program is driven by the high school and college students who take part in leading it.  All camp counselors/coaches/staff members undergo an intensive two hour training program where they learn leadership, coaching, and mentoring skills, positive conflict resolution, basketball coaching/training strategies, and other important skills.  We are confident they will do a terrific job and will represent the mission of our program which is to provide each camper with a positive and fun athletic experience, and teach them the life skills necessary to be successful students and people. Almost all of our coaches and directors were campers for years. Please understand that this is a learning experience for many of them as well, and we appreciate you communicating any feedback regarding our staff.  This is best done in person at the end of any day of camp, or through e-mail: hoops4life206@gmail.com.

Life Skills

We have a “Life Skills” curriculum in which each camper will take part in one or two 30-45 minute lessons in the classroom each day of camp. These sessions will typically be co-taught by our directors and our most experienced staff. Classroom sessions are designed to help campers build positive social and interpersonal skills, and allow us to emphasize the values of our program, as well as characteristics and virtues necessary for success in school and in life.  We are proud of this element of our camp and take a lot of time and pride in planning out a curriculum that will be useful and lasting for our students.  

Camp T-Shirt

On Friday at the end of the day, campers will receive a camp t-shirt. Please make sure any camper who needs to leave early on Friday or cannot attend camp on Friday notifies their coach or a camp staff member before leaving.  These items are not always available until near the end of the Session (sometimes not until Friday mid-day).

H4L Gear

On Friday at the end of camp we will be selling exclusive H4L tshirts, socks, and other items. Please feel free to support our program by getting some extra "swag" at the end of the week!

Refunds

Due to the high demand for our sessions, we will not offer refunds after camp begins except under extremely extenuating circumstances as decided by the camp directors.  Feel free to communicate to us any concerns you may have if your camper has a less than positive experience, but that is not grounds for a refund outside of the normal policy.  Injuries sometimes occur (inside and outside of camp). In past years we’ve had campers get hurt prior to attending camp, still come and participate minimally, yet have a great time.  Please let us know if you have a camper with an injury, and we’ll try to help you manage that along with their participation level as best we can.

COVID Protocols

If, at any time, your child is showing any symptoms consistent with COVID, please inform us and keep them home. While we like to think we have moved beyond COVID being dangerous in most instances, there are still individuals who are more vulnerable. As a courtesy, we would like to minimize exposure as much as reasonably possible to more vulnerable campers/family members. That being said, there will be no required masking or special protocols in place this year. 

Thank you for supporting our program with your registration/attendance at camp this year!! We look forward to seeing you at camp!! If you have any further questions regarding camp please feel free to email me at hoops4life206@gmail.com.