Germantown Academy

Soccer coach/camp counselor

June - August 2019 • Fort Washington, PA

What I liked

Everything about it. Being able to share my own personal knowledge from self-development to soccer expertise is a rewarding experience that I look forward to every summer. "Coach Steve" has since cultivated a humble following among the campers who return every year, and ask at the end of their time whether I will be back the next year.

What I wish was different

Though I am understanding and sympathetic to the predicament, I have found that I return every year to increasingly tedious rules and regulations around the camp. While few are welcomed and do aid in daily planning, child organization, and the overall satisfaction from the attendees and the parents, many have come at the cost of our liberties as counselors, including cut lunch breaks and extraneous duties around the camp such as serving as a lifeguard, when there is a fully designated staff for this duty. Additionally, we receive no training, preparation, or compensation for these additions.

Advice

If ever given the opportunity to work as a camp counselor, it is a must. It is a beneficial experience for both the counselor to learn how to communicate, manage, and understand children of various ages, as well as a benefit to the kids who receive dedicated and sincere guidance from those who have valuable life experience aside from their parents. The opportunity to grant a different perspective from a designated teacher or parent is invaluable, as the dynamic from what I would consider myself as a "dedicated and professional friend and coach" is able to reach children on levels that others often cannot.

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