Kids will be flooding reluctantly back to school today after an extended Easter break and the promotional campaigns for summer sports camps are beginning to edge up in intensity.
Last year’s Kellogg’s Cúl Camps from the GAA broke through 100,000 participants for the first time while leinster Rugby are already out promoting their Bank of Ireland backed camps on the home page of the website with special offers for early booking.
The FAI, Basketball and a host of other sports and organisations will be similarly looking to take care of little ones for a week and foster dreams of sporting prowess in an area that has become a substantial money spinner and sponsorship opportunity.
As the economic tide has turned the level of engagement has similarly started too rise and the new Rugby Academy backed by former French captain Phillipe St André and irish entrepreneurs Graham Ross and Ian Lewis is hoping to benefit by laying on camps for the most serious of players in the French Alps with coaching and a set up that would not be out of place in the professional game.
They are holding an open session this coming Saturday in Kildare where St André and a group of the senior coaches will run skill drills and a rugby blitz for 10-15 year olds in the morning and 16-18 year olds in the afternoon.
The summer camps in France will be a big investment for parents but the open session only costs €20 though places are limited and booking in advance essential at psaacademies.com
