How to Start a Football Camp: Top Tips for Success
[.rt__btn]Get Smarter Admin[.rt__btn]
If you’re starting a football camp, you already know how popular they can be with parents during the school holidays. Camps keep children active, engaged and learning, while giving parents a reliable way to balance work and family time.
Running a football camp also brings a welcome boost to your club’s income, but success depends on planning, organisation and great communication.
At ClassForKids, more than 4,500 clubs use our tools to run smooth, secure and well-booked camps every year. So, whether you’re planning a summer football camp, a half-term holiday camp or a weekend skills session, these tips will help you set up your camp with confidence.
3 Tips for Starting Your Football Camp
[.pink__text]Make Booking Easy When Starting Your Football Camp[.pink__text]
When you’re starting your football camp, making the booking process simple helps you stand out to parents. A smooth, professional booking experience gives families confidence and shows your camp is well organised from the start.
An online booking system lets parents see your full schedule, book sessions and pay securely in just a few clicks. It saves you hours of admin and gives parents the flexibility they’re looking for.
If you’re keen to find out how the right system can help you run your football camp smoothly, take a look at our blog on [.blue__text]why ClassForKids is the best camp management software[.blue__text]. It explains how simple tools can help you grow bookings, save time and keep parents coming back.
[.green__text]Keep football camp payments simple and stress-free[.green__text]
Getting your payments under control when sessions and camps are full is one of the most important parts of running an organised football camp. When payments are clear and upfront, everything runs more smoothly for you and for parents.
Encouraging parents to pay at the time of booking helps prevent last-minute cancellations and saves hours of chasing payments later. It also keeps your finances predictable, which is a big help when you’re starting your football camp and want to plan ahead confidently.
Clubs using ClassForKids save over 15 hours a week on admin and reduce late payments significantly with automatic invoicing and online checkout. And according to our 2025 Brand Perception Survey, more than 75% of clubs say ClassForKids helped them achieve business growth.
Learn more about our [.blue__text]payment tools for clubs[.blue__text] to see how they can simplify your football camp admin and finances.
[.orange__text]Stay organised when running your football camp[.orange__text]
With all the excited children buzzing with energy, you don’t need the extra stress of juggling multiple spreadsheets to keep track of who’s who. A good online booking system lets you view registrations, medical information and emergency contact details in one place, so your coaches always have what they need to keep everyone safe.
With ClassForKids football camp management software, you can stay in control of every detail. Offer flexible booking options for parents, from individual days to half-day or full-camp durations. You can also manage capacity to keep sessions organised and maintain safe staff-to-child ratios without the stress of manual planning.
If you’d like to see how it all comes together, try [.blue__text]our self-guided tour[.blue__text] to explore how football camp management software makes running your camp smoother, safer and easier. No need to book a demo, simply explore it at your own pace.
Inside Scoop: If you sometimes struggle with patchy Wi-Fi during your football camps, ClassForKids’ offline registers make life much easier. You can open them on any device, even without an internet connection.
The Ultimate Planner for Your Kids' Club
We've got a ton of free resources you can access now to help improve the efficiency of your club.
DownloadHow to turn camp bookings into long-term customers?
Camps don’t always lead to continued custom, and if that’s your goal, it can sometimes feel like extra work without much return. But with a few smart steps, you can turn those one-off camp bookings into long-term, loyal customers for your football academy.
Start by keeping parents engaged after the camp ends. If the booking process was simple and their children had a brilliant time, they’ll already be open to returning. Reach out while the experience is still fresh with:
- A friendly thank-you email after camp finishes.
- An invitation to book your upcoming term sessions, including direct links or a short registration form.
- A small incentive like a discount, free trial, or “bring a friend” offer.
If your next term is just around the corner, mention it before the last day of camp or include details in your follow-up messages. Parents appreciate reminders that make their next booking easy.
For more ways to keep families coming back, read our blog on [.blue__text]customer retention strategies for camps[.blue__text]. It’s packed with ideas to help you strengthen relationships and encourage repeat bookings.
And remember, with ClassForKids football camp management software, you can track attendees, send follow-ups, and manage repeat bookings in one place. It keeps your camp admin organised and stress-free, so you can focus on delivering great sessions.
Start Your Football Camp with Confidence
So there you have it! Starting your own football camp might feel daunting at first, but with the right planning, fun and engaging activities, and an easy way for parents to book and pay, you’ll be ready to run a camp that kids love and parents trust.
ClassForKids has supported thousands of clubs for more than 10 years, helping football academies like yours grow, stay organised, and save valuable time on admin.
If you’re ready to make running your football camp simpler and more successful, take our self-guided tour to see how our football camp management software helps you handle bookings, payments, and communication all in one place.
Felicia Bugge
Felicia is our resident Content Specialist. She is the mastermind behind most of our blogs, emails and Tiktoks! When she isn’t planning the next big email campaign or chasing participants for Tiktoks, she can be found travelling to new exotic places, reading the latest booktok book, or converting friends to using iPads for notes and calendars!
Related Blogs
How do you set up, grow and manage a kids’ football franchise in 2026?
10 Ways Camp Software Helps You Run Stress-Free Holiday Camps
