"We decided that we would try to blow everyone out of the water on our first shot, rather than just creep up on everyone," says Taylor, director of summer programs and special projects at Charlotte's Providence Day School. "I think (summer camps) have gotten a lot more competitive, and we decided we wanted to have a really good program."

Taylor's strategy is working. Providence Day has attracted about 2,500 registrants this year, up from 325 when the program started seven years ago. A majority of the registrants attend more than one camp during the nine-week session.

No other single day camp operator in the region is reaching as many kids, Taylor says. The YMCA of Greater Charlotte serves 3,000 children per week at its 13 branches. Another 1,300 kids attend Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation's summer day camps.

Providence Day's courses, which cost $115 to $375, range from lacrosse to rockets to creative gardening. The summer camp's budget approaches $1 million. Some families spend up to $3,000 if their kids take part all summer, Taylor says.

An obvious sign of the program's success is that the nonprofit school's board of trustees expects Taylor to do more than break even. "At first a surplus wasn't expected, but now that's what they want," she says.

Summer camp has long been a big business in western North Carolina. The four counties around Asheville are home to more than 50 overnight camps, which annually attract 40,000-plus youngsters from across the nation at a weekly cost often topping $1,000. An Appalachian State University study in 1998 pegged the economic impact of those camps at $96 million.

But the biggest growth is in Mecklenburg-area camps, spurred by parents' need for day care and greater interest in sports. Officials at the Boys Scouts of America, YMCA, the Charlotte Eagles, Davidson College and other organizations say their camp programs are growing as parents seek more structured activities for their kids.

The Charlotte Eagles are teaching soccer to about 1,350 this summer at $105 to $165 per camper, up from about 300 when the professional team started its local program in 1993.

"Camps have definitely gotten more competitive, and you are seeing a lot more options out there for different kinds of camps," says Brad McGlaughlin, the Eagles' camp director. Local soccer players, for example, have their choice of at least a dozen area camps, including programs led by coaches at UNC Charlotte, Davidson and the Charlotte Soccer Club.

The region's biggest residential camp, the YMCA of Greater Charlotte's Camp Thunderbird, has run at capacity for years, says David Purcell, executive director of operations. About 600 children attend the Lake Wylie camp each week during the 10-week summer season, including 480 overnight campers.

The YMCA is spending more than $10 million to start a second residential camp next summer on 1,400 acres 12 miles west of Wilkesboro. Herring Ridge, named after Leonard Herring, former chief executive of Lowe's Cos. Inc., will initially accept 125 campers during eight weekly sessions, says Andy Kane, the YMCA's vice president of camping services. It eventually will triple in size, he predicts.

"We became concerned that (Camp Thunderbird) wouldn't be big enough for all of the demand," Kane says. "We think Herring Ridge can help meet the needs of our children for the next 20, 30 or 50 years."

YMCA policy requires that 10% of the slots go to Charlotte youth from families who cannot afford to pay Camp Thunderbird's $600 weekly fee.

The Boy Scouts' Mecklenburg County Council's two camps are attracting about 10% more youth this summer, and the council expects revenue of about $386,000, says Scout Executive Leroy Mayne. Older scouts pay $145 to $165 for a week at Camp Grimes, 85 miles northwest of Charlotte in McDowell County.

"That's a real bargain for six nights of camping, but we try really hard to break even," Mayne says.

Societal changes are pushing the increased popularity of summer camps. More families with two working parents require more day care. And many kids don't play in their own neighborhoods anymore because of safety concerns.

"Kids and parents are on such a go-go lifestyle these days," Providence Day's Taylor says. "It's not like the days when kids mowed the grass in the morning, then played with kids in the neighborhood all afternoon. Nowadays there often isn't that kind of neighborliness, so parents are looking for a different vehicle for their kids to socialize."

Business opportunities also are propelling the growth of camps, particularly for sports-minded youngsters. Most notably, camps can be lucrative for coaches at area colleges and sports organizations.

"Sports camps are an industry that has taken off all over the country," says Richard Terry, director of auxiliary services at Davidson. "It's a way for coaches to enhance their income, and it serves as a grassroots recruiting tool for down the road."

The Eagles' McGlaughlin says the camps "are becoming popular because they are a way to make money for your organization and, in some cases, personally."

Schools also see the camps as both marketing tools and a way to use facilities that otherwise might sit idle in the summer.

While about 160 students attend two small residential programs operated by Davidson, the college opens its dorms and athletic complex to outside groups that attract nearly 3,000 students over the summer.

"Basically our mission is to try to generate new dollars for the college without compromising our ability to be prepared in the fall," says Terry, who oversees the various camps at Davidson.

"The slow economy hasn't really impacted us this summer," he adds. "We turn away many requests, and we basically have been operating at capacity over the past 10 years."

At Providence Day, students from at least 75 other schools attend the summer camps.

Past experience suggests some will end up enrolling, Taylor says.

"It's gives people who don't go here a chance to see what we are like," she says.

© 2003 American City Business Journals Inc.