Camp Woodward??

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May 19, 2018
19
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Newbie to all-star cheer (and this place lol)

My cp has heard about Camp Woodward through her gymnast friends and her older cheer friends who used to be on Worlds teams. Sadly they're all for the most part off in college now so if we sent her she would probably be alone, and much lower level than her friends where when they attended.

Does anybody have personal experiences regarding their child attending Woodward alone and/or as a lower level athlete? If it helps she's for the most part working level 3 tumbling and some level 5 stunts as a flyer. There seems to be some troubling concerns online regarding lower level athletes essentially being singled out/bullied, especially among the teens.

Since her friends went years ago and with their gyms, we're scared as to how relevant their insight may be. Additionally, when we google the WW reviews they seem to be quite unsettling, mainly regarding lack of supervision. She can be quite social once she gets into a friend group, although she's scared most girls already come with their friends/teams and it would be hard to possibly break the ice and weasel her way in.

It also seems from the reviews that they predominantly work on tumbling, and don't get to stunt unless they come with their stunt groups? Sadly nobody else from our program is looking into the camp, and although she wants to work on tumbling she truly loves flying more. Did your athletes find this to be true?

I'm aware that the kids seem to relatively choose the activities that they want to do at their own free will, but is there really almost NO supervision? Also, how much instruction do they truly receive if choosing to frequently go to the gym? Is their a way to book private lessons there?

Just trying to justify if it's worth sending her there, in terms of money and having to travel up. We're mainly looking into the PA location, but willing to hear anyone's stories location wise since we'd have to probably fly to either location regardless. Any advice helps!
 
Newbie to all-star cheer (and this place lol)

ANY ADVICE HELPS PLEASE! :)

My cp has heard about Camp Woodward through her gymnast friends and her older cheer friends who used to be on Worlds teams. Sadly they're all for the most part off in college now so if we sent her she would probably be alone, and much lower level than her friends where when they attended.

Does anybody have personal experiences regarding their child attending Woodward alone and/or as a lower level athlete? If it helps she's for the most part working level 3 tumbling and some level 5 stunts as a flyer. There seems to be some troubling concerns online regarding lower level athletes essentially being singled out/bullied, especially among the teens.

Since her friends went years ago and with their gyms, we're scared as to how relevant their insight may be. Additionally, when we google the WW reviews they seem to be quite unsettling, mainly regarding lack of supervision. She can be quite social once she gets into a friend group, although she's scared most girls already come with their friends/teams and it would be hard to possibly break the ice and weasel her way in.

It also seems from the reviews that they predominantly work on tumbling, and don't get to stunt unless they come with their stunt groups? Sadly nobody else from our program is looking into the camp, and although she wants to work on tumbling she truly loves flying more. Did your athletes find this to be true?

I'm aware that the kids seem to relatively choose the activities that they want to do at their own free will, but is there really almost NO supervision? Also, how much instruction do they truly receive if choosing to frequently go to the gym? Is their a way to book private lessons there?

Just trying to justify if it's worth sending her there, in terms of money and having to travel up. We're mainly looking into the PA location, but willing to hear anyone's stories location wise since we'd have to probably fly to either location regardless. Any advice helps!
 
It’s not as much unsupervised as it is unstructured. Both my girls went there when they were younger but always with friends or team. That being said they made friends easily - cp actually met her bff there when she was 9 or 10 and they’ve stayed friends ever since (and she’s almost 18 now) even though they live in different states.

If I’m remembering correctly they have one mandatory and two optional tumbling sessions a day. What they do with their time in-between is up to them.
 
It’s not as much unsupervised as it is unstructured. Both my girls went there when they were younger but always with friends or team. That being said they made friends easily - cp actually met her bff there when she was 9 or 10 and they’ve stayed friends ever since (and she’s almost 18 now) even though they live in different states.

If I’m remembering correctly they have one mandatory and two optional tumbling sessions a day. What they do with their time in-between is up to them.

@CheerBank

Thank you! We don't mind unstructured for the most part, as long as they can still get a decent amount of instruction sometime in the day! I just didn't want the kids running wild. One review scared me with a comment of the skateboarders trying to hook up with the cheerleaders in the foam pits. Your comment gives me hope for us shelling out the almost 3k (she wants to go for 2 weeks in a row and budget wise it would be best for us to not have to do too much flying back and forth) You wouldn't mind me asking which location would you? We only seem to hear things about West
 
There are several threads on Woodward which will give you a lot of information (you can use the search bar on the top right of the page). My CP has gone several times and loves it. It is unstructured and it's more social than skill building, so I wouldn't send someone younger than 12 if they weren't with a group. I view it more as a regular camp that happens to have a gym then as gym instruction if that makes sense - your CP may tumble a lot while she is there but it's more of an open gym type training than clinics or 1:1 instruction. There is an opportunity to stunt at one open gym but it is primarily tumbling.
 
Tell her to stay away from the skater boys!

While mine has come home with some new skills, as @quitthedrama said, the kids love it there for the freedom and social aspect. Very often they make friends there that they go on to see at competitions throughout the season. Also it really will be up to your kid to attend the optional sessions, no one will make her do it if she chooses not to.

Definitely check out the other Woodward threads, all your questions will probably be answered in those.
 
@CheerBank
She is on the older side (15) but I don't have too many worries concerning the boys, as long as they're not doing anything more so of harassment. She's sadly had some incidents in which her boy friends (note the space) do/attempt some nasty things to her when she was younger, so at this point she's pretty good about sticking up for herself and choosing who she hangs out with wisely.

Since she's new to the sport meeting new friends is definitely a huge appeal to her, especially since we come from a small gym. I tried checking the threads (gained some great info btw so thank you to you and @quitthedrama :D:D) but didn't see much about older girls going. This by far is her main concern. Did your cps by chance go at an older age? The only thing we've seen about older girls is becoming junior counselors, but the website didn't provide any info on that and the customer service seems to be quite lacking. Since she's so new to the cheer world she wants to probably just have a "normal" camp experience, and maybe be a counselor if ever deciding to come back. Anything regarding older kids would be amazing to hear. She's the kind of girl who can seemingly fit in with any age, at least with our gym and her school setting. I will say she is definitely closer with the senior girls with all their typical teen interests, but from time to time hangs out with the younger kiddos as well. Our gym actually thought she was youth when she started (since she's so tiny) so she has no issue with blending in with younger kids if she wants to lol.

Sorry for all the questions! If anyone knows someone who can please help w insight on older kids I beg you to refer me to them! (I'll try to stop pestering yall. . at least for now ;):p)
 
Mine is 17 and went last year and is going this year (week 5) as a regular camper. Many of her friends are the same age and went as regular campers. There is a 3 week minimum stay to be a jr counselor and a lot of cheerleaders can't have that many missed practices so they will go a week or 2 as regular campers (that is why mine is going as a regular camper). Feel free to message me if you have specific questions!
 
My Cp went to the PA camp. She is very social and loved it...but I didn’t. I was not thrilled to pay what we paid (plus the horrible long drive!) and Cp not return home with ANY new or improved skills! Honestly, I would be willing to even pay a bit more if it were more structured...ie more required tumbling classes, less “free” time. And I have no problem with them doing other non-cheer things during the day...but I want it structured. Ie...the whole cabin with counselor goes to whatever together. There was a lot of small groups roaming around the camp doing who knows what bc counselor wasn’t with them. And I also got tired of Cp calling me for more $$ all the time...everything costs extra and it was a real pain in the butt. I gave her the recommended amount and she blew through it in 3 days. It would be better if they’d include more in the price.

I guess I just expected more bc you hear “Woodward” and you think your kid is going to be with incredible trainers and working hardcore on tumbling. I did not find this to be the case. Perhaps for highly self-motivated kids...but mine is just a typical kid (albeit naturally athletic & a pretty decent tumbler-she was working all of her 5r skills when she went at 13.) There are PLENTY of social/typical camps MUCH closer to home if that is the goal. :) Sorry to be the only nay-sayer, but thought you might want another perspective !
 
You make good points. It's definitely not the place to pick up new skills (although it happens) but I'm not sure it has ever been advertised as such. If you take advantage of every workout available, which I believe is 3 per day, so the opportunity to get reps and get tips on perfecting and cleaning the skills are there. They do have good trainers, but it is very hard to teach a brand new skill in 6 days. I agree it is expensive (but in looking on line it is pretty much in line with many overnight camps) and unstructured and I think the admin staff leaves a lot to be desired so I wouldn't recommend it for younger kids unless they go with their gym. My CP gets $100 to spend and when it's gone it's gone. They get 3 meals per day so there is really nothing they HAVE to spend money on. You would definitely get far more benefit taking private lessons with a coach for the money you spend so it really depends on what you are looking to get out of the camp as to whether it's the right place for you.
 
I think about Woodward this way: It's a summer camp that provides access to qualified cheer/tumbling instructors with high quality equipment *** as one of the activity options***. It is not cheer/tumbling bootcamp. They do not schedule every minute of day. So IMO, it is a place suitable for a child/teen who is comfortable and prepared to make their own decisions about how to spend their time. Personally I didn't send my 9-10 year old. But my CP is entering high school. She can make those decisions about how to structure her day.

I dont expect her to come home with new skills. But hopefully they can give her that extra push to try something new, maybe clean up some skills. I want her to see and hear what cheer is like in different area's of the country. Broaden her horizons and maybe make some new friends. Its more about character building than skill building.
 
@alpaca That's for the most part how I'm thinking going in. :) Our gym is extremely small, so definitely want her to be able to make new friends who share similar cheer interests and such. Although I will say we are trying to get her there for 2 weeks in a row with her planning to go to most tumbling sessions, so fingers crossed we at least see some improvement and maybe having her throw a new pass or two.
 
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