Sending Your Athlete to an Air Force Academy Sports Camp? A Parent's Guide
Each summer, the U.S. Air Force Academy opens its gates to thousands of young athletes for its long-running summer sports camps — a tradition running more than four decades. Volleyball, swimming, basketball, soccer, and a dozen other programs bring campers from all over the country to train on the same fields and courts as Division I Falcons, at the foot of the Rampart Range north of Colorado Springs. For a young athlete, it's a serious week: college-level coaching, high-altitude training, and for many, a first real look at what an academy path could hold.
For parents, it raises a more practical set of questions: How does the week actually work? Where do we stay? And what do we do with ourselves in Colorado while our kid is busy becoming a better athlete? Having hosted our share of camp families in Manitou Springs, here's the guide we wish every first-time camp parent had.
How Camp Week Works
Air Force sports camps typically run in multiple sessions through June, with most sessions spanning several days in a Monday-through-Friday rhythm. Depending on the sport and program, campers attend as boarders — staying in Academy accommodations for the full session — or as commuters who arrive each morning and leave each evening. Details, dates, and registration live on the official Air Force athletics site (goairforcefalcons.com), and they're worth checking early: popular sports fill up months ahead. Confirm your athlete's session format before booking anything, because it determines your week entirely.
Boarder families usually build their trip around the bookends — drop-off and pick-up — often arriving a day or two early to help their athlete adjust to altitude, then returning for pick-up weekend. Commuter families need a base for the whole week, ideally somewhere the non-athlete hours don't feel like a waiting room.
Where to Stay: The Case for the Mountain Side
The hotels closest to the Academy's north and south gates are efficient and interchangeable — fine for a single overnight. But if you're staying two nights or more, consider basing on the west side of the metro instead. Manitou Springs sits about 25 minutes from the Academy, tucked against the mountains at the base of Pikes Peak, and it changes the character of the trip: instead of a highway interchange, you get a walkable historic mountain town with mineral springs, local restaurants, and Garden of the Gods three minutes from your room.
The morning drive to the Academy is straightforward, and everything you'll want in the off-hours is at your doorstep rather than a drive away. For altitude adjustment — worth taking seriously if you're coming from sea level — arriving a day early and sleeping at Manitou's gentler 6,300 feet, with an easy first-day walk through Garden of the Gods, is a kinder ramp than throwing a camper straight into training.
The Outrider Tip
Camp week is a workout for parents too. Our sauna, cold plunge, and outdoor hot tub aren't just for the athletes — although when your camper comes back sore from two-a-days, contrast therapy is the fastest reset we know. Several families traveling together for the same camp session? We hold room blocks of 10+ rooms with a shared booking link.
Ask About a Room BlockYour Week While They Train
Commuter-camp parents and early-arriving families get something rare: unscheduled days in one of Colorado's best corners. The short list from Manitou Springs — Garden of the Gods at sunrise, before the day warms up. The Pikes Peak Cog Railway to the 14,115-foot summit your athlete will brag about seeing. The Manitou Incline, if you want to earn your own training story: 2,700-some steps straight up. Cave of the Winds, Miramont Castle, and a downtown made for slow afternoons — coffee, galleries, and the springs themselves. None of it requires reservations weeks out; all of it fits around a camp pick-up time.
Pick-up day deserves its own plan. After a week of two-a-days at altitude, your athlete will be tired, proud, and hungry. Book an extra night instead of racing to the airport: let them sleep in, soak, eat an unhurried breakfast, and tell you about camp at their own pace. The drive home — or the flight out of Colorado Springs, about 35 minutes away — is easier on everyone the morning after.
A week at an Academy camp tends to loom large in a young athlete's summer. With a little planning, it can be more than a logistics exercise for the rest of the family — it can be the anchor of a genuine Colorado trip, the kind you find yourselves rebooking the moment next year's camp dates are announced.