Albany Sports Camp
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Albany Sports Camp
July 2005
I just want to recommend a summer camp that could use a little
boost in enrollment. It is the Albany Sports Camp that takes
place at Oceanview Park off of Buchanan. (bottom of Marin). My
daughter loves it. The director is Norm Friedman, and it is run
by a young man named Joel. What I love about it, is that it kind
of recreates a situation like people of my generation had growing
up. That is, boys and girls, all ages, just playing games
together. The only difference being that it is supervised and you
pay for it. I never went to camps growing up, because there were
so many kids on my block, I just playe! d in the street with all my
siblings and neighbors. My kids (like most kids today) don't have
that these days, but at this camp they can play capture the flag,
spud,baseball, soccer, and its all just for fun. They aren't
gearing up for a competition with other teams, they aren't being
groomed for professional sports, they are just kids playing for
the sake of playing.The counselors (mostly young men) are all very
unmacho and sweet with even the littlest kids. It is going for the
rest of the summer. You can contact them at 559-8208
ann
August 2005
I've been biting my tongue about Albany Sports Camp, cuz I would rather
deliver negative reviews in person, but I feel like I should speak up.
We had a
HORRIBLE experience with ASC last summer. My son was 4, and the camp
boasts that they have a special program for 4-5 yos, practically a
''camp within
a camp,'' and with a dedicated counselor. None of those things were
true. The
little kids were mixed in with the big kids, given no extra help or
instruction,
and left to sink or swim. My son, who had arrived excited to learn team
sports,
felt intimidated by the big kids, inadequate to do the sports that were
never
taught to him at a basic level, and spent almost all week sitting under
a tree
with a new friend.
Not once did I see him greeted by a counselor when we arrived (and I
would
always stay a while). Not once did anyone say goodbye to him. Perhaps
this
was because no one ever got to know his name. The staff changed every
day.
There were more than 5 different head counselors in 5 days, and staff
changed
between morning and afternoon.
The first day I arrived to find him hysterical with the senior
counselor, Joel,
standing over him, yelling at him, calling him by the wrong name and
berating
him for petting a stray dog. My son was so upset that he was
incoherent.
One day a 5yo child wet his pants. (His parents later told me it was
because the
boys had to use a filthy outhouse for a bathroom.) None of the
counselors did
anything. the kids tried to cheer him up, but the staff walked away,
and it was
left to me to help him change out of his wet clothes and find dry ones.
Another day I saw a tiny child, barely 4yo, endure an older boy
taunting him
and teasing him and riding his bike around him in circles, while the
counselors
stood by and did nothing.
I saw several other examples of appalling behavior that left the little
kids
feeling uncared for. While older kids who already are strong on sports
may
enjoy themselves at the camp, I would NEVER recommend it for little
kids. I do
not believe that most of the staff has the experience or training to
respond to
the special needs of young children, even if they do enjoy tossing a
softball in
their direction.
FWIW, I did speak to the director, Norm Friedman, about our problems,
and he
was very apologetic and made all the right noises and excuses. But I
have never
heard anything that makes me think that it is a good place for younger
children.
anonymous
The previous postings have been appalling and my heart goes out
to the folks with such negative experiences at Albany Sports
Camp. Nevertheless, our experience has been so positive I feel
compelled to write. Our son participated in the spring
baseball program and we found it to be a very positive
experience -- our 5-year-old son loves sports and we want to
keep them in a positive light for him. We aren't interested in
anything competitive and when the session was over he was
disappointed because he wouldn't ''get to learn the rest of the
rules'' of the game. After watching Joel, in particular, in
action for two months we felt confident about the summer sports
camp. Sure enough, on the first day Norm and Joel remembered
our son and greeted him by name. He has learned fun games in
addition to playing sports each day and! came home with an art
project he was very proud of on the first day. Every day Joel
has greeted him as he has climbed out of the car (across the
field) and then again once we walked across the field.
Yesterday he invited my son right into a game of kickball and
asked who wanted to have him on their team -- everyone (kids
and counselors) waved and said ''me,'' in a way you can only hope
for. In short, he is going back for a second week and will go
back next summer if he wants. I sincerely hope that the
problems posted earlier were rectified. There are notes on all
their flyers to give them feedback and it appears to me that
that has worked to improve the program -- we're really pleased
with it. The Albany Sports Camp has been a great fit with our
parenting style and our son's personality.
A Happy and Satisfied Mommy
My child had a very unpleasant set of experiences at Albany Sports Camp
years ago:
small injuries, he didn't learn anything about any sport, etc. I was
also unhappy
many times. Usually the problem was that my child was unhappy at being
left at the
camp, and this upset me. But one other experience also stands out. One
time I was
literally 2 minutes late to pick up my child and was charged $5 by the
director,
Norm Friedman. I can understand that ''a rule's a rule'' even though I
really
was exactly 2 minutes late, I am not minimizing this. The thing that
seemed really
wrong was that my child was left sitting under a tree right near the
entrance --not a
safe place--with the closest camp personnel about 120 feet away, and
not
watching, and other kids and adults still streaming out. No one was
supervising my
child, though I was charged in a rather rude manner (I found my child,
said ''let's go''
and was almost a block away when! I was screamed at to come back in
order to pay.)
BTW, I was late because at pick up time you sometimes need to park a
block or two
away.
anonymous
June 2005
we are considering sending our 4 1/2 yrs son for two or three
weeks to the Albany Sports Camp (the day-long one). On paper it
seems a good match for his personal tastes: outdoor activity,
group play, lots of older boys to ''imitate''. OTH we read that
some parents were not too happy with the way the camp is run, in
particular with the lack of structure and supervision for younger
kids. Can anyone share with us their experiences with this camp.
We would also like to know how the extended care hours worked for
your kids.
Thanks for your help!
Isabella and Paolo
My kids have attended Albany Sports Camp over the years and
have really enjoyed the camp. It's fun, not competitive, a
bit unstructured, low key and the staff is great. It's
supervised play in the park with lots of fun games. My kids
loved Joel. However, I'm not sure I'd send a 4 1/2 year old
for the full day, unless you've got a confident and outgoing
child who likes to be with the rest of the group. My son did
fine as a 5yr old, but his older brother was at camp with him
the first week. My kids didn't much like the extended care b/c
most kids seemed to leave at 3pm and there weren't e! nough kids
to play with, also it can get cold and foggy at Ocean View in
the late afternoon. Once they got a bit older we let them go
home at 3pm rather than go to extended care. Our only issues
were with a badly behaved fellow camper and the director was
very responsive to my call.
my kids liked albany sports camp
I was very unhappy as well as angry with theA lbany Sport's
Camp's staff and director. On the hottest day of the year In
late August they let him fry (He had a sunburn so bad on his
nose and checks that today almost 5 years later he still has a
scar on his nose.) His skin remained cracked for weeks. He came
equipped with plenty of sunblock in his backpack and a written
note asking them to please help him put on sunblock (he was only
4!)and when I picked him up hours later after a full day I was
horrified to see how they let him burn. When I called! and spoke
with the directer, Norm, I did not get any sense of caring from
him that my son had been left to burn all day (My son later told
me no one had said anything to him at all about sunblock all day
and by the look of his skin I believed it) with obviously no
intervention from anyone there. The direcor gave me some line
about we have so many kids here... like that is a reason to
endanger a child's health!
Anonymous
We haven't taken the camps, but we tried the Sunday afternoon
baseball sessions for 2 10-week sessions last spring in
Albany. The kids working on the field, some
of them looked to be 18-22 and others were younger teens, are
very sweet and some of them are quite talented with
youngsters. There didn't seem to be any accommodation for what
kids could actually do--they were grouped by age or size only,
even if some were stronger or faster. There was NO
accommodation for kids who needed extra direction. By the
middle of the second session, I was unwilling to commit my high
energy 5 year old to a camp. But it's worth trying out a
couple of drop-in sessions first to see what you and your kids
think.
Good experience at Albany sports camp. My son deserved a time
out and he received one, along with some positive encouragement
from Coach Joel. Their attention to the whole kid as well as to
fun and games is welcome.
Berkeley parent
June 2004
I am currently considering enrolling my almost-five-year-old in a
sports camp this summer. I want something that will be
noncompetitive and nuturing but still active and fun.
I am looking at both Albany Sports Camp and Strawberry Canyon Rec
Camp. Anyone have experience with both or either? I have looked
at the archives and could not find anything on the Albany Sports
Camps.
Thanks!
Rachel B
Our son is now 8 and has been to both the Strawberry Canyon and
Albany Sports Camps. He enjoyed both equally. The Strawberry
Canyon site can be a bit of a nightmare picking your child up,
long lines, etc. even though they have a very good ''runner'' and
sign out system. The Albany Sports Camp seems looser in
structure but I think the kids have just as much fun. Drawbacks
are that Albany s.c. doesn't have swimming and that if it rains
there isn't an ''indoor'' place to take them. A big positive is
that it costs quite a bit less than Strawberry Canyon.
kl
We had a bad experience with Albany Sports Camp and about 4 years ago. The
director told a child (not my own) who had been hurt, ''You're not
really hurt'', when they child seemed to be hurting. I would not
recommend the program.
However, my son has had great experiences with the well-run Strawberry
Canyon summer camps for 4 years now, and will be attending again this
summer.
Hope this helps,
Sports boy's mom
Albany Sports Camp and STrawberry Canyon are quite different.
Albany is more laid back. I have heard STrawberry Canyon has
even the younger kids going from one activity to the next all
day schleppign back packs and all -- tiring, but depends on the
kid. I think the structure from day to day is similar. Also it
includes swim lesson. From one summer experience my impression
is that Albany keeps the kids in activities all day, but is not
so rigid in terms of time frame. One thing about the age of
your child -- mine went to Albany around that age. The staff
reassured me there would be kids his age the week we signed up
for, and that was only true for the last day or two. Also I
think they were a little off on appropriate age level of games
in some cases. Also, once when my son was not into a game he
sat out, but apparently in the hot sun, and came home sick. I
was angry that they didn't use better judgment.
Good luck
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Last updated: Sep 10, 2005
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