After years of concern due to COVID-19, directors say demand for summer camp spots going through the roof
NEW CITY, N.Y. -- Summer camps are filling up fast. Owners tell CBS2's Leah Mishkin the amount of interest is something they haven't seen in years.
Kids will soon be running around empty tennis and basketball courts, if they're lucky to get a spot.
"Many of our groups are close to being full. We're not totally full yet. I know some camps in Westchester are full," said Sam Borek, owner and director of Woodmont Day Camp in Rockland County.
At Woodmont, campers range in age from 3 to 15. Borek said there's a tremendous amount of interest for this summer.
"On a typical day it would be one-two phone calls. Now it's six to eight to 10. So it's, definitely, you feel it in the office, where typically this feeling would come in March or April, where you feel that buzz of camp. Now, we're feeling it in January and February," Borek said.
The American Camp Association of New York and New Jersey did a survey with more than 100 camps. Of those, 60% of day camps and 50% of sleepaway camps reported higher enrollment in 2021 than previous summers. The association said camps are anticipating even greater numbers this year.
"In 2020, we were all scared. No one knew what to expect. We were able to open camp safely. In 2021, people started to feel more comfortable. OK, you were open, you did this, my kids have been in school and now it's 2022 and parents say I need this," Borek said.
He said there were about 500 campers, 200 staffers, and no cases of COVID last year. All the activities were outdoors.
"Another piece to why enrollment, I think, is so high for camps is that we proved as an industry that camps can be very safe," said Matt Krouner, owner and director of Camp Shodack.
Krouner operates a sleepaway camp in upstate New York. It has a set capacity which it hits every year. The difference this summer?
"We just saw more interest and more enrollments earlier. We've had waiting lists in a lot of our age groups going back to October," Krouner said.
He said parents want their children to be outside, socializing with other kids, and off screens.
As for staffing, he said his camp has put a big emphasis on recruiting because of the challenges last year.
"We may have had one person doing it during the offseason. It's now multiple people," Krouner said.
A big part of the shortage, he said, was not being able to bring in counselors from out of the country. Both camps are keeping their eye on potential state guidelines. They're not expecting any serious regulations. These camps want to go back to normal as much as possible.
CBS2's Leah Mishkin contributed to this report.