camp counselor

camp leader

regional coordinator

camp manager

conseiller

Royal City Soccer Club

The company makes it sound like you'll have a great time all the time and that it is a low-pressure environment. This is not the case. one thing to know is that there are almost no legal protections for summer camp workers! Staff are underpaid, and required to work regular overtime (minimum of 10 hours a day, no overtime pay) Wage worked out to approximately 13 dollars an hour when Alberta minimum wage is 15 dollars. Additionally, they are very stingy with supplies, which causes staff to feel guilty and provide things for the kids out of their own pockets. (for example, there were crayons and markers for kids to colour with, but a camp was only ever given 10 pieces of paper a week, which for a camp of 15 kids is not nearly enough)
 Make no mistake; summer camp workers are just extremely underpaid babysitters. I worked as a supervisor for them for 7 weeks, with nothing but positive feedback from the kids, parents, facility staff, and my staff. (feedback which I made very clear I would be more than open to) I repeat; I received only positive feedback, and parents in particular were extremely happy with my work ethic and how I went above and beyond to look after their kids. One day I sprained my ankle while at work, and that night I was let go. Other factors influencing this were that I had expressed in confidence to co-workers that I felt out of my element, having never worked in that kind of setting previously, and additionally, another supervisor was placed at my camp for that week, and decided he would lie about me to our boss to get my hours for himself. Regardless of the fact that they did not have just cause to dismiss me (which they don't need as summer camp workers can be dismissed without just cause); my dismissal was handled extremely poorly. My immediate supervisor was extremely rude, and refused to have an adult conversation with me about why I had been dismissed, and how I could improve should there be a similar situation in the future. The manager for western employees was polite when I called her, however she made it sound like she didn't think I had done anything wrong. Though I would not willingly work with children again, I found it an enriching experience as it was very rewarding to try and instil a love of soccer in the kids, and most of them were just the sweetest little things, some of whom I will remember for a very long time. In the weeks after my dismissal, I continued to receive e-mails from office staff pertaining to the job, (asking me about the camp site, kids, etc.) which only made the wound deeper. Almost a year later, I have received several more e-mails from them, including one for past employees about re-applying. This is completely unacceptable, as if you fire someone they should not be receiving these kinds of messages. Don't work there, and don't send your kids there either, as they won't retain staff that actually care about the kids or parents.

Wow.

As a student attending University, this job was an absolute nightmare. I was hired for my second year at Royal City (I only took the job because everything else I had set up fell through) and I was promised 8 weeks minimum with a nice $500 bonus at the end of the summer. I took the job, knowing I had a poor experience the past summer but the pay would look okay next to my tuition fees. Well, I got a call about two weeks before summer began saying "we overhired, and yes you signed the contract so we can give you a minimum of 4 weeks" I was devastated! I needed a stable income and this was not providing it. I tried to see the best in it and I showed up to camp the first week I was scheduled, just to be called again and told I had no more weeks to work. I was dumbfounded, but not just because I got ROYALly screwed over, but also because I found out 13 other individuals hired by RCSC in my area were experiencing the same situation. Oh, and as icing on top of the cake, the $500 bonus turned out to be less than a fifth of what was promised. The camp quality is incredibly sub-par with little to no effort going into the weekly themes, and the majority of head-office is so detached and absolutely unbothered by the actual grunt-laborers issues and dilemmas that it made communicating with any office employee (with the exception of one) impossible. The camp director obviously needs pointers on how to run a camp because every parent I talked to while working said that they found this camp to be sub-par daycare and little more. I hope that all young student-aged individuals looking to work at RCSC please heed my advice, it is NOT a good idea. Look to any other camp first.

I had an amazing experience this summer at the Royal City Soccer Club location in St. Catharines. I learned so many skills this summer from coaching the kids, to communicating with parents, and managing paper work. Most importantly, seeing the kids grow in their soccer skills during the week, or sometimes the entire summer they spent with us. In addition, working with the staff members and volunteers at the location was also a benefit, as I could practice my leadership skills.  Head office was super supportive all the way through, and addressed any concerns I had. Hours were beneficial, as the camp ran from Monday to Friday. We ran activities between 9 AM to 4 PM Monday to Friday, while also providing pre and aftercare for selected campers between the hours of 8 to 9 AM and 4 to 5 PM. Overall, I would recommend Royal City Soccer Club to anyone who has aspirations of becoming a teacher. While the pace of the environment can be busy at times, as there is a new situation each day, the experience is worth it in the end. I would like to thank head office, staff, and the campers who made this experience worth it this past summer. I will definitely be taking the skill sets I learned into my future career as an educator.

Since I was born I've wished and waited for a time when I could work with Royal City Soccer Club. It was my dream to work for this company as my mom used to read me bedtime stories about how fantastic this company and it's employees were.

They say to never meet your heroes but I say hogwash - what I wouldn't give to have another phone call with one of the head office workers telling me what they were having for lunch in incredible detail, all of the while helping me with my own questions and needs to keep camp running smoothly.

In all seriousness, the support that I felt from the RCSC in any and all situations that arose during my summer time working for them was some of the best I've had in any job. I've worked many jobs for many different industries over my life and this was one the best. No question was a dumb question and every problem had a solution. I always felt comfortable talking about anything to anyone so that I could do my job as best as possible.
From the top down, everybody who works there takes pride in what they do and it really shows.

Should I be needing another summer in the future, the RCSC will be one of the first places I call up.

I hope everyone takes a minute before they apply to any position here and really ask yourself “how badly do I really need this job” if the answer is badly, please do your mental and emotional health a favour and apply anywhere else. 
The turnover rate is atrocious and once someone leaves you’ll be forced to take their tasks on top of the ones you already have without a pay increase or a single thank you. 
Everything you’re reading in the description of the job doesn’t even touch half of the stuff you’ll end up doing. 
The owner will treat you like royalty for the first few months of working there but once it comes down to it you’ll realize to him you’re easily replaceable and he couldn’t care less about your happiness or stress levels at certain times because “that’s just the job”. 
The ONLY good thing about this place is I did meet some incredible people during my time here who I still keep in touch with and trust me when I say they all feel this exact same way and all quit/left the company for the exact same reasons as written above  which is why the company this year is starting from scratch. 

Sunday - Friday you are doing something, even in the training video (supervisors), they said that you would only have Saturday as a "day off". But even on Saturday's they WILL call you. On Sunday's, you are panicking and prepping for the week ahead, it's stressful. There's NO SPACE to keep camp gear (only at your house and in your car). My car was jammed packed all summer with camp stuff, scary thought when you're worried about theft. Monday - Friday were 9 hour days, no lunch, no break. The "break" is during lunch, but you're still in charge of watching the kids. Job security? Nonexistent. There were times (Thursdays usually) that I would get a call saying "no camp next week due to lack of campers", so what am I suppose to do? Not work or make money. I was thrilled to get a full time, money making position all summer, I was promised that, but they can't hold promises. I wish I would have looked into this company more before I accepted the position. Full of stress, hot days with no shade or washrooms, and poor management communication and understanding. Head office is a joke.

A typical day at work starts off with waiting for the kids to arrive in the parking lot. Next we make our way to the soccer field and do some warmups. We then do soccer drills all varying in difficulty. After soccer drills, we'd have snack. After snack, we would have a quick game (tag, hide and seek, etc.) and than we would have a big soccer game. This soccer game would be counselors against campers and would last 45 minutes. This would take us to 12 o'clock. Then we would have lunch. After lunch we would take the kids to go swimming. I learned a great amount about how to deal with children and proper communication skills when talking to their parents. The management was great and very inclusive. The hardest part of the job was leaving because I had made such great connections with my co-workers and supervisors. The most enjoyable part of the job was getting to play soccer everyday then go swimming.

The kids were all fun to be around, all very inspiring and loved to be with them and watch them progress through just five days. We got to relax and meet with them for hours each day, ending with some relaxing swimming from the summer heat.
However, the company was unorganized. When it would rain, we were left high and dry (wet) with kids who couldn't play soccor in the downpour rains. They wouldn't help with much of the issues that happened, and were incredibly rude when trying to deal with them. Wouldn't work there again. I'd go to another soccor camp.
Parents weren't happy when some of the merchandise they bought were not shipped to them (out of my own control), and would blame us. Most parents were understanding.
The company being a "non-profit organization" would not refund money / change dates of scheduling when only three kids were signed up and parents were willing to change the dates of their scheduled weeks.

A typical day at Royal City Soccer club consists of getting to work early in the morning to setup for camp, making sure ever kid is signed in and making sure everyone is comfortable, by playing lots of icebreakers and fun games. since it is a soccer camp we were required to make drills to teach the kids how to play soccer, but most of he kids wanted to play world cup ( teams of 2, if your team scores past coach your teams goes to the next round, last one to score is out) playing in the sun for 8 hours a day all summer was a task and it was a hard one, a lot of the kids ask for tons of breaks to sit in the shade. Pool time was the best part of the day, after lunch we would head to the pool and let the kids swim around and be kids for around an hour or 2 depending on the attitude of the camp that day. after swimming its free time until parents pick up at 4.

Royal City Soccer Club hires great staff to help run a good and fun camp at all of their sites. Each staff member is dedicated to ensuring that all campers have the best time they can, while also doing what they are required to do in their specific site (to teach soccer, mainly). Children are all so unique and it is interesting to interact with a lot of them and see how different they all are, yet they can all give you something to learn about either yourself or themselves. I was blessed to be able to work with such great co-workers and I regularly keep in touch with them because they were so much fun and their personalities fit with mine so well. The hardest part of the job was looking after trouble-making campers and the most enjoyable aspect was interacting with the campers in general and learning about each individual.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Camp counselor 188 salaries reported	$18.93 per hour
Camp leader 5 salaries reported	$18.28 per hour
Regional coordinator 1 salary reported	$18.50 per hour
Camp manager 15 salaries reported	$18.50 per hour
Conseiller 3 salaries reported	$16.58 per hour

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