Doug Bruno Girls Basketball Camp

★Mark Brandi

Maybe this camp is fine as a “fun” camp for little kids. They give no instruction on skills other than for that silly ball-handling demonstration for the parents on the last day. The “coaches” show no interest in the players. My daughter’s coach disappeared for long portions of each day and they sat around with nothing to do. I complained to the managemt about this and received no response. Don’t waste your money here if you want a camp to help your child improve.

★★★★★Daylily Wellness

Absolutely love this camp. Loved it when I was a kid and sent my daughter this past year and she loved it as well! I couldn’t believe Spider was still there after all these years. What a special treat!

★★★★★Me

Great basketball learning experience for girls! Love the organization of this overnight skills camp; and, all of the kids get ample playing time! Athletic trainer on-site, most coaches are former players and the location at North Central College is a great one.

★★★★★Missy Boleyn

Great camp, I've seen significant improvements after each of the camps my child has attended with Doug Bruno (5 now) . They give them great instruction on how to implement the strategies for at-home practice. If kids are bored after one day, as another poster suggests, it's likely because the child isn't disciplined enough or hasn't the attention span to practice drills, and not just run up & down the courts. The kids DO play tons of games, by the way. And of course the kids are indoors. That's where basketball is played. If it was outdoors, people would complain it's too hot. There is a swimming pool the kids can take advantage of each night for a couple of hours. The kids have downtime, too. They can go outside of they wish. It's a bit of a walk to the dining hall, so they certainly are outdoors for the walk there and back 3x per day. As for the camp, the emphasis IS on building and improving fundamentals, without which more advanced elements won;t be as successful. So there are lots of repetitive ball-handling drills, shooting drills, etc. That how acquiring skills works. If your kid is more advanced, they place them with other advanced kids...so your "superstar" isn't going to be grouped with newbie players. Some kids attend with buddies, some do not. On occasion, my girl has been a little lonely, at other times, she's made a bunch friends she still is in touch with. It just depends on the type of kids at any given camp. Regardless, she's so busy & so tired at night, that there's not really any opportunity to dwell on others. I would highly recommend. I feel like it's a good value, and a great experience. Most of all, my kid chooses to return year after year, so I guess her endorsement is worth more than mine. :)

★Elizabeth Theyssen

My Daughter attended camp this year and last and she will never go back! This camp is very unsafe. Anyone can get into the facilities, including the dorms! For example, the building and dorms are massive and they do not conduct a fire drill. There is no check out procedure - so anyone can just take a kid. They parade the kids across campus with their Bruno Shirts on so all outsiders are aware of where they are. When I first tried to talk to the assistant coaches about my concerns, they kept saying they have been doing this for 30 years. Times have changed and we live in an unsafe world, yet they make no attempt to implement necessary safety procedures for our girls sake. The Dorm mom ratio is 70 campers to 1. This year the Dorm mom on my daughter's floor brought her two young children with her. There were homesick, crying campers everywhere and the Dorm Mom makes no attempt to help them. The basketball instruction is ok but most of the time the girls have to sit around so Bruno can hear himself talk. There were injuries and illnesses with no calls home to parents. It was a nightmare and I am just praying it didn't completely turn my daughter off to ever going to another overnight sports camp. My overall impression is that Doug's self promotion and the staff's lack of concern for camper's well being (particularly the younger ones - they take 7 year olds) trumps any concern for our girl's safety. I would highly encourage parents not to send their girls to this camp!