Camps and Clinics:
Double your money and decrease your work load
T
housands of coaches from New York
to Alaska have learned the secret to
running a more successful camp: Let
someone else do most of the work. And while
working less, they are making even more
money.
“It’s not often you can work less and make
more,” said Brad Allen, former head coach
at St. Joseph-Ogden HS in Illinois. “But we
took a local clinic with 50 kids and turned it
into a 300-player camp that attracts the top
talent from all over central Illinois. We make
five times the money and the camp is actually
easier to run now than it was then.”
For Allen and hundreds of others, the secret was partnering with U.S. Baseball Academy, a Louisville-based company that has been
helping coaches run camps since 1988. In the
past few years, its growth has been nothing
short of explosive. Since 2002, the company
has grown to 150,000 players in 41 states and
boasts an impressive Advisory Staff that includes Don Mattingly, Paul O’Neill and Cy
Young Award winner Brandon Webb. Beneficiaries of the expansion have been thousands
of college and high school coaches, who have
earned $6 million in hosting fees in the past
12 years.
U.S. Baseball Academy founder and President Marc Hoffman describes the concept as
a kind of “camp in a box.” “We handle all
the administrative functions that all coaches
hate,” he said. “We not only give them the
itinerary and equipment; we take care of advertising, marketing, registration, payments,
T-shirts, insurance, and paying the instructors.
The schools and coaches have no expenses,
no risk, no phone calls from parents. They
keep the biggest slice of revenue, plus all the
equipment when camp is over.”
The company is seeking new host locations
for its rapidly expanding Spring Training program, which offers six days of hitting, pitching
and fielding lessons to local players in grades
1 through 12. A typical site runs indoors for
six Sunday afternoons between December
and March, before high school or college play
begins. Host schools typically attract 150 to
250 players from an hour’s radius and earn up
to $10,000 for their local coaching staff. Because age groups are staggered throughout the
day, there are never more than 50 players at a
time, limiting the need for space.
“Sometimes coaches think they need a
giant field house, but with 30 or 40 kids per
hour, it’s really not much different than running a normal practice session in your gymnasium,” Hoffman said.
Parents pay only about $100 for the six
U.S. Baseball Academy’s
advisory staff includes
stars such as Cy Young
winner Brandon Webb
U.S. Baseball Academy Growth Chart
Year
Total Players
Paid to coaches
2002750 $33,750
20033,000 $135,000
20049,000 $405,000
200518,000 $810,000
200630,000 $1,350,000
200744,000 $1,980,000
200859,000 $2,655,000
200972,000 $3,240,000
201090,000 $3,950,000
2011106,000 $4,400,000
2012127,000 $5,080,000
2013150,000 $6,010,000
one-hour lessons, with the largest slice of the
pie going back to the host school and coaches.
Hosting coaches can do whatever they want
with the money, which generally ranges from
$7,000 to $10,000. “Most coaches use some
of the money to supplement their salaries,”
Hoffman said, “but many put some or all of
the money back into their program to pay for
field upgrades, a spring trip or new uniforms.
We send their money before camp ends, and
they determine who gets the checks.”
USBA handles all the
administrative tasks.
Coaches have no risk
and no hassles. They
just coach.
The company works like a franchise.
Coaches reduce their workloads because they
don’t have to develop itineraries, brochures
and handle administrative tasks. They increase their numbers and revenue
because of the panache of hosting a nationwide program.
“U.S. Baseball Academy
made six weeks of instruction feel like it lasted only
six hours,” said Youngstown
State University assistant
coach Craig Antush.
“The administrative staff
is highly organized and efficient, making these camps
very low-maintenance,” said
Steve Farley, head coach at Butler University in Indianapolis
and a host for 10 years. “We’ve been sold out
each year.”
University of Findlay head coach Troy
Berry agreed. “U.S. Baseball Academy has
been nothing but great for our program. It has
helped build relationships around the community and has been a great fundraiser. They do
all of the leg work and we get to do the fun
stuff: coach the kids. I highly recommend getting involved with them.”
Hoffman said the company’s biggest obstacle to growth has been that coaches are sometimes skeptical, often questioning whether
it’s too good to be true. Skip Bailey, athletic
director at Monroe Community College in
Rochester, N.Y., and an ABCA committee
member, thought exactly that eight years
ago when he was head coach at the school.
But 2,000 players attending eight clinics has
made him a believer.
“This was a home run for our baseball program,” Bailey said. “We have been running
camps for 25 years, and these have been our
best. I thought their ad was too good to be
true, but I’m glad I made the call.”
The company hopes more coaches make
the call, but don’t delay. Thousands of players are already registered for Spring Training
2014, and new sites must be finalized soon.
If you don’t have time to put something together for this year, contact them to get on
their schedule for summer or next spring before a coach near you reserves your territorial
rights. To learn more, contact Vice President
of Baseball Operations Joe Marker at 800592-4487 or by email at
[email protected].
Visit the company’s web site at
www.USBaseballAcademy.com.