A few tips I learned when getting my 11 year old son set up at the 5 day overnight Texas A&M Soccer Camp.
Packing Advice:
- Think dorm. Don't think hotel or condo. We were at Callaway Dorm which is quite a modern dorm, but still a dorm.
- Remember when you moved into your dorm freshman year and it was absolutely bare? My son stayed in a suite that had 2 bedrooms (2 boys in each bedroom) and a main living area. The living area has a couch, shelves, tables, chairs with nothing at all on them. The bedrooms have one queen bed and one twin bed. There are no sheets/pillows/towels/blankets provided.
- The checklist says pack "all toiletries." This means soap to wash your hands and a towel to dry them.
- Bring board games and playing cards. There is nothing to do in a bare, empty dorm room
- Bring a lamp that will actually light up a room. We brought desk lamps and the bedrooms were still very dark. There is only a closet light and a dim light at the room entrance.
- Bring coat hangers. Each child gets their own closet and I wish I had brought hangers.
- We brought a small TV and a Wii console. I only let me son bring cooperative, four player games, like Mario Party. Don't judge. I read somewhere that 87% of kids get homesick first time at camp and I was thinking the Wii games might help him bond with his new roommates.
- We brought a cable TV cable (now you can judge), hooked it up, and it worked so they had cable tv, although, the tv is old and you can't change channels without a remote (which we forgot) so they are stuck on WGN all week. Life can be so cruel sometimes. Am I right?
- The WI-FI for Callaway Dorm was blocked so don't plan on having wi-fi.
- We plugged my son's laptop in using an Ethernet cable and he had Internet access, after I filled out a suddenlink sign up page for free.
- Bring a pad of paper, pens, and scotch tape. There is nothing to write on or with. The tape would have been handy to post the schedule on the fridge.
- The kitchen has a full size fridge, a tiny microwave, small sink, a couple of plastic ice trays, and cabinets. No stove or oven. We brought snacks, drinks, paper or plastic plates, cups, forks, bowls.
- Breakfast in the cafeteria is from 6:15am - 7:30am so if you want to sleep in on any days, bring your own breakfast, and meet for training at 8am. Make sure your child isn't skipping breakfast, though. Camp is hard work. We brought mini pancakes and pop tarts.
- Bring paper towels and napkins.
- There is one bathroom in the suite (again, we had 2 bedrooms. The 4 bedroom suites have more than one.) The bathroom has a tub/shower and toilet. The sinks are in the bedrooms.
- Bring at least one bottle of soap and one hand towel, but if you are feeling like super-mom, bring 4 bottles of soft soap and some hand towels. That would be one for each bedroom, one to leave in the shower, and one to leave at the kitchen sink.
- Campers are required to have a ball. There are like 100 boys showing up with the Texas A&M ball you get upon check in (if you bought one.) We brought one from home. I have no idea how you are supposed to find your ball at the end of training with 100 identical balls. Maybe label it uniquely by coloring in a pentagon on something. The ball they got was very cool, actually:
- Label everything you want to see again with a sharpie.
The camp website has a packing list. Be sure to bring all items on that list.
Saying Goodbye was sudden:
If you have anything to say to your child, do it in the car before you even enter the dorm. Once in the dorm, my child was so excited and a little embarrassed that his mom was hovering too much in front of his peers. You only had 30 minutes to help him make up his bed and unpack, and then between 4:30pm - 5:30pm, your camper will go down for dinner. Moms aren't allowed in the cafeteria so be sure to say goodbye prior to your child going down to dinner. It caught a lot of parents off guard and they didn't get to give their final words of wisdom speech and remind their child to keep hydrated, and to behave.
My child and his room key was gone by 5pm so there wasn't really time to run to Walmart and get supplies you forgot and bring them back to the room. I suppose you could find a counselor who could get an item to your child, if it were important. Plus, the boys run back to their room to change for 6pm training and that is not a time where moms are welcome in the dorm room.
There was, very surprisingly, no parent meeting and no introduction to his counselor. I suppose some more assertive moms tracked down the counselor, but I don't even know my son's counselors name. Don't get me wrong, there was NO shortage of coaches and counselors. They were everywhere you turned and were helpful, but there was nothing formal. If you wanted any information, you had to ask.
I agreed with my son that he would text the first day (I had just left him at 6pm so not much to catch up on), call the 2nd day, and text the other days. After the first day I got a text "Mom first day was awesome."
Move in:
There is one set of elevators in the parking garage and one set of elevators in the dorms. They are both very backed up on move in day. Be prepared to take the stairs, even if you get a room on the 4th floor. It is better of have more smaller/lighter bags than a giant one you can't lug up stairs.
We tried to do our 4pm check-in at 2:30pm and they refused. We couldn't even park. If you come right at 4pm, expect long waits for the elevator. We came back at 3:40pm and they let us check-in then.
Move out:
I haven't experienced move out yet, but am told that the parking garage at callaway is backed up for an aggravating 30 minutes. You can park in visitor parking across the street (75 yards away or so) and avoid that.
There was a girls and boys camp going on at the same time, but they train separately. It seemed like it was all boys on my son's floor.
The bedrooms lock automatically when you close the door (same for the main door into the suite). If your dorm room says 220B, be sure to unpack in the "B" bedroom because that is where your key will work.
Set the A/C for the room because no 11 year old is actually going to read the instructions. They just kept hitting the down arrow and that isn't the only setting required.
The "camp store" is just an area on the 1st floor where they have folding tables set up with shirts, balls, and snacks. Add "camp bucks" to your campers account and that way if they lose their ball or run out of sunblock, they can buy replacements there.
Yes, there are washer/dryers and the camp store sells Laundry Detergent. Just an fyi. My son won't be using any of that!
They also sell other snacks, but didn't have them laid out yet.
The pizza works like this. Before the evening training session (6pm - 8:30pm or something like that??), you can fill out a little form in the lobby to order a large pizza for $10. Circle what toppings you want. When you get back from training, there should be a pizza from double daves in the lobby with your name on it. It is only large pizza, no other sizes, and there is not an option for salads or breadsticks etc. Pizza only! The form has your room number on it to help clarify which kid and camp bucks account to charge, but they don't deliver it to the room. Get it from the lobby. My child was not at all hungry before training, but I made him order one for after training because what boy isn't hungry after 2.5 hours of soccer? It made me feel better, anyway.
The camp rules say the child cannot leave the dorm without a coach, so even though there is a McDonalds within smelling distance, the camper cannot go there. The pool is in the dorm courtyard so I think they can go there.
Send some real dollars too. There is a game room with video games (like 2 of them or something) and drink vending machines on the floor.
Plus, I was thinking if if there is an emergency and someone else needs to pick up your child from camp, or if a camp counseler was going to run to CVS to get my kid some tylenol, it would be nice if my child could pay for that, because of course, camp bucks don't work in the real world.
Making friends:
I recommended he start with ..., "What club do you play for? What city is that in? I am in room 220. What room are you in?"
You have to take your child if you want to see the campus:
Go early on move in day so that you can't a chance to drive campus, see Kyle field, and visit the student center. All the kids will get to see all week is the dorm and the soccer field.
Plan on at least an hour to get through the student center. I have no idea where a visitor can park and wasn't too surprised when I had a $40 parking ticket on my windshield.
Student Center:
- Eat lunch there. There are plenty of fast food restaurants open in the student center, even in summer.
- Go to the book store (waaaaaaay better than the camp store)
- See the Apple Store
- Check out the pool tables / ping pong / fooz ball area
- Nice HDTVs, little aquarium
- See the free museum gallery
- See real A&M students. There were hundreds at the student center, even in summer. The ones lounging near the TVs or pool tables were easy to talk to.
- We didn't even make it to upstairs level because we ran out of time.
Good luck. Leave comments with your advice.
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