We did it!! Signature Sports Camps is thrilled to announce our official accreditation from the American Camp Association (ACA)! This achievement represents months of preparation, dedication, and commitment to excellence. We implemented over 300 rigorous standards in safety, health, wellness, staff training, and programming, and hosted auditors at each camp location last summer. The result? Signature Sports Camps now joins an elite 25% of camps nationwide with ACA accreditation—an accomplishment we proudly share with our camp families.
What is the American Camp Association (ACA) Accreditation and Why Does it Matter?
The American Camp Association is the leading organization dedicated to advancing safety, quality, and best practices for day and overnight camps across the U.S. Founded in 1910, the ACA sets the highest standards for camps to create enriching, secure environments for campers of all ages. Through conventions, educational programs, and annual audits, the ACA ensures accredited camps continuously meet and exceed rigorous quality benchmarks.
What ACA Accreditation Means for Signature Sports Camps
When you see the ACA logo on our site, you can rest assured that we are thinking about every tiny detail in the overnight sports camp experience. ACA accreditation includes standards around staff training, health & wellness for campers and staff, and programming. Let’s jump into what that means for our campers:
Staff Training
All staff goes through a combination of virtual and in-person training, skill verifications, and ongoing performance evaluations. Of course, we background check, interview, and reference check our staff, but we also verify that our staff can carry out the procedures that we train for. Worst-case scenarios are accounted for, rehearsed, and evaluated on an ongoing basis, as the ACA requires.
Health & Wellness
We are proud of our Camp Nurses, but we can’t rely on their experience alone to require that they do a great job caring for our campers. The ACA Health & Wellness standards cover camp procedures for our nurses and staff to operate within. Procedures like health exams upon checking into camp to ensure that we don’t accidentally check in a camper who is ill (risking the experience of our whole camp community for that session), or procedures around how we collect, log, and store medication to ensure we are providing the best possible care.
Programming
You come to camp for a reason: you expect that your camper has a well-rounded, educational, and quality experience. The ACA sets programming standards to ensure that our schedules, curriculum, and overall program engage and enrich campers. With the ACA, we ensure that campers are in developmentally appropriate and well-structured overnight sports camp sessions.
Our Commitment to the Safety and Well-Being of Campers
ACA Accreditation isn’t just a one-time award – accredited camps undergo regular reviews to maintain accreditation. But it’s all worth it for our families to have peace of mind in knowing that we are committed to excellence and a quality program. When parents see the ACA logo on our site, they can guarantee that they are placing their children in a camp that values safety, a trained staff, and a professional experience. We are committed to being in the top percentile of camp programming, and we will be back year after year proving to the ACA that we are worthy of their mark of quality.
Our ACA Accreditation wouldn’t be possible without the buy-in and help from our staff. Our coaches could choose to work at a different camp with less training and a flexible environment. But our staff prioritizes the Signature Sports Camp experience, including the training and procedures, just as much as our directors and leaders. At the end of the day, we are all extremely proud of the product we put out on the field for our campers, and ACA Accreditation is a representation of just that.
Explore the Signature Difference
Curious about what sets an ACA-accredited camp apart? Explore a Signature Camp location today and discover the difference that quality and care make. We can’t wait to see you on the field!
