Famer, the sports coaching and mentorship mobile platform, announced a partnership with US Sports Camps, the largest youth sports summer program in North America, to bring an interactive training experience to thousands of athletes displaced from camp due to COVID-19.
US Sports Camps (USSC) is the licensed operator of the NikeSports Camps and operates over 1,000 camps in 16 different sports totaling more than 100,000 campers annually.
“Our goal this spring was to bring our unique cloud-based interactive training technology to the camp’s market to give kids and parents a meaningful and worthwhile summer experience,” said Famer CEO Rich Abend. “Through launching the concept with the industry leader, US Sports Camps, we know we have found a fun and powerful alternative to keep kids engaged and active, and coaches involved and earning money doing what they love. Our business has grown ten-fold during COVID-19, and we are thrilled to be the go-to solution for virtual training which will continue to be important to athletes and coaches even after we all return to the fields and courts.”
For the past month, USSC has rolled out its new Famer-based digital training platform for virtual camps with select coaches and the early feedback has been positive from parents and kids.
USSC and its coaches film skills and drills videos and upload them to the Famer platform. The drill videos are grouped into workouts that are then distributed to campers to view, perform and record (if they choose). The drill videos that campers record are then shared with USSC coaches to review for accountability and provide feedback through a number of Famer analysis tools like voiceover, telestration and text. Athletes can choose to sign up for group-based or individual digital/virtual camps on Famer for programs lasting between two-to-five weeks. Campers in group-based training are able to interact with each other and their coach in a multi-media group chat that creates camp-like camaraderie.
“This has been a difficult time for us at US Sports Camps,” says Justin Hoeveler, EVP of US Sports Camps. “2020 is the first summer in 48 years that we haven’t operated in-person summer sports camps for young athletes. While we decided early in the Spring that there was too much uncertainty around Covid-19 for us to feel comfortable operating our physical camps we did know that the demand for quality coaching and structured training for our campers would remain strong. The partnership with Famer has been tremendous so far. The testing we’ve done this Spring has given us a window to see how young athletes, coaches, and parents can interact, learn and have a positive virtual experience that enhances skill development and athletic performance. We’re excited to continue to digitally connect our coaches and campers through the summer and beyond.”
Photo courtesy US Sports Camps
