Q: What is the vision and mission behind Hogan Camps & how did you get started?
A: Summer camps have always been a very passionate aspect of my life… I spend an awful lot of time with kids all over the state of New Hampshire but also with the big camps attracting kids really from all over the Northeast and in some cases from other countries… When I was a young coach I was working at other people’s camps traveling around the country going to Notre Dame, Rutgers, and Stanford and many different places, and I thought this is great fun, I really enjoyed meeting all of these new people who also enjoyed basketball in sports. So I establish my own camp circuit here in New Hampshire which has worked out really really well for me. It’s something that I look forward to every single summer and plan for year-round to make this happen.
Q: Tell us a little about what you’re working on at the moment?
A: Really January 1st of every year the website is launched… by February I’ve got most of my staff and place and organized for the summer camps and I potentially add or move around a staff member here or there depending on their availability. but most of the people who work for me have worked for me for many many years. I have some that works at summer camps for over 20 years… Many ex-players will come back who are assistant coaches, who work for me as well… I’m spending a lot of time finalizing all of the different planning…
Q: Tell us a story about one of your proudest moments in your coaching career?
A: There are so many great stories and so many success stories. So over the years you work with different kids and you watch them grow and mature and you watch them have some success at the middle school and high school level, some kids move on and play at the collegiate level, and all those things are great. But inevitably every single summer at camp there will be some past campers who are grown up, who will make a special trip back to the camp to stop in and say hello. And it happens every single summer, many times. And it typically is a very special time at camp…
Q: Tell us a story about some of the challenges you faced in your coaching/athletic career and how you overcame them, or maybe you still are?
A: Well sorts is a great vehicle to learn about how you can handle life’s daily challenges. the flat tire when you don’t expect it, the sadness that can occur when you lose a special someone in your life, or something else that can occur. and every year, inevitably, there are some challenges that occur…
Q: Tell us about the importance of building trust with parents when you are running camps and overnight camps?
A: You know I think that’s one of the reasons why we’ve been successful… My experience with working with first and second graders, kindergarteners, middle school kids, high school and college, benefits me as a coach and especially as an administrator, because I kind of have the full array of experiences working with many different levels and types of kids and their backgrounds; to be able to help all of them have a good camp experience and grow as human beings.
Q: How do you think technology is changing the way you work and coach?
A: Well the website certainly is a big change. 18 years ago I had my very first website and here it is today, with the online signups. As it’s evolved, a few years back I spent a lot of time, it was only about 7 years ago 100% of registrations were done with paper and a check and that was time consuming for me as a small business owner, to be mailing and doing all of the documentation of 1000 – 1200 people coming through doing the camps I run in the summertime. So that has been a big change…
Learn more about Hogan Camps at www.hogancamps.com. Subscribe to the Upper Hand Blog for latest podcast episodes and other news!
