Never again, Sidwell soccer

[Anonymous]

Felt like I should share that we had a pretty bad experience with Sidwell soccer last week. It may be ok for bigger kids, but I do not recommend it for preschoolers. DD watched way more tv there in a week than she would have in several months at home - and she was only there 3 hours a day. Several of the movies were too scary for her. There were contradictory instructions about what she needed to wear/bring, and drop off was bizarre in the mornings - we'd get there 5 minutes early to find that the counselors had already taken the other kids to another building and no one around to be with my daughter or take her to her classroom. The best was that on day 4 a group of counselors at drop off called my daughter by the wrong name. She'd been there for 4 days with a bunch of people calling her the WRONG NAME.

None of this stuff was catastrophic, but there were a lot of snafus for only 5 days. Especially for preschoolers. We've switched camps for the remainder of the summer.

[Anonymous]

Which site? Bethesda or DC? DD is signed up for later in the summer and now I'm kinda scared ... and why were they watching TV/movies at all?

[Anonymous]

In contrast - I am not the PP but I have my child at camp for the 1st day at Headfirst at SAECC

The biggest snaffu was the red Audi who went around the circle the wrong way and needed to turn around and blocked up traffic. There were lots of people directing / checking / unloading.

Yes - it was just the drop off - but thought it was an indicator of the expectations for the day.

[Anonymous]

that does seem odd. why tv/movies during soccer camp?

[Anonymous]

My then 5-yo attended Sidwell Soccer last summer and loved, loved, loved it. I saw a remarkable difference in his baby soccer skills when the Stoddert Fall Soccer season started. If he watched a lot of television, it did not show. Maybe it is different for 3-4 yo

[Anonymous]

OP here - sorry I didn't respond sooner.

To 12:02: We were at the DC site. I had the same question about tv - my dd was only there 3 hours a day - why was there ANY need for TV? They were running two different video choices simultaneously. Not to mention totally non-age appropriate tv. Argh.

The only silver lining I can think of is that it was the first week, so maybe it will get worked out as they go? Still, we've been to several other camps before that did not have this type of growing pains early in the summer.

[Anonymous]

Sidwell was selling slots at this camp at rock bottom prices on those web deals

[Anonymous]

OP thanks for posting more info (12:02 here). We thought we "scored a deal" on Living Social but I guess maybe we'll need to re think the week. I hope someone else will post later in the summer how it's going since we're not signed up until august for our week. Perhaps you can send a letter to the camp with feedback? Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

I keep thinking that the camps that have to resort to the 50% off deals at this late date can't bevery good..and this confirms my thought..

[Anonymous]

Thanks, 14:00. I talked to someone in the camp main office on Friday after the counselors had welcomed my child that morning with exclamations about the pizza/ice cream party that afternoon.... which she did not get to attend as a morning-only camper. The party takes place at lunch. It was sort of the last straw to know my child was at camp all day thinking she was getting to go to a party and knowing she'd be picked up right as the excitement started. There were tears. I called because I wanted to make sure the counselors know for next week that not all kids stay for lunch and therefore the end-of-week party.

I did try to mention the other things during the same conversation, but she was not very helpful and very bureaucratic in responding to my concerns on the party front, so I sort of gave up. Was clear the conversation would not be productive for them or me. They definitely do know about the name thing, though, b/c the counselors were appropriately mortified to find out they'd been calling her the wrong name for so long.

[Anonymous]

My kids love Sidwell. I have a 4 and 5 year old. They are in Junior Explorers. Everyday they have great stories to tell of their daily activities and they are extremely tired at pickup. This is our 3rd summer at Sidwell and I highly recommend it to all!

[Anonymous]

This was our third summer of doing Sidwell camp - Jr. Explorers and the golf and tennis camp. I must say, I agree that this year seemed totally disorganized - both the camp and the pick-up/drop-off situation. The "police officer" running the carpool line was a total jerk. My kids will not be returning next summer.

[Anonymous]

OP and other posters, for the sake of other children who are stuck at Sidwell camp (or who may be next year) PLEASE talk to the camp director about your concerns. Non-age appropriate TV? Wrong names? making kids cry about pizza parties they won't be going to? What is wrong with these people?
Sidwell was going to be my FALLBACK next summer because although I know it's not directly affiliated with the school I figured it was a well run program. Now I am not so sure.

[Anonymous]

Sorry for folks that had bad experiences, my two kids and their friends had a blast at the Sidwell Soccer program -we had to add more weeks. Great staff ratios and lots of skill building. These hot weeks have been tough (DC in July so we should expect hot weather) but I was pleased with how they took the kids into the air conditioned gym in the afternoon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry for folks that had bad experiences, my two kids and their friends had a blast at the Sidwell Soccer program -we had to add more weeks. Great staff ratios and lots of skill building. These hot weeks have been tough (DC in July so we should expect hot weather) but I was pleased with how they took the kids into the air conditioned gym in the afternoon.

There's lots to do in a gym without resorting to television. I'm surprised it's not a camp policy to prohibit television. Kids at camp shouldn't be watching it.

TV itself isn't bad - it's just bad when you're paying $50-100 a day for your child to have a great sports camp experience.

My sons were at Headfirst during the heat wave, and they were able to swim, play street hockey, climb a climbing wall, and do tons of other indoor activities during the heat. I was impressed that the camp managed to pull it off, given how many kids are enrolled. OP, the soccer program at Headfirst is great - I think they offer it both half-day and full-day at St. Alban's.