When Fred Crowell and his wife, Susie, ran their first basketball camp in 1972 in the town of Cusick, Wash., 52 miles north of Spokane, they never dreamt theyd eventually be at the helm of an operation that runs camps with more than 10,000 children in four countries each summer.


What started out as a mom and pop program offered through the Crowells Spokane-based counseling service has evolved over the past 35 years into an enterprise thats now the worlds largest operator of basketball camps at which participants stay overnight, claims Fred Crowell, the companys founder and president.


This summer, the company, called NBC Camps LLC, and two spinoff operations together plan to hold more than 55 basketball camps at 19 sites across the U.S. and in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Italy. NBC Camps hopes to enroll roughly 11,600 kids in those camps this year.


The company, located in a roughly 3,900-square-foot leased space at 10003 N. Division, has about $5.5 million in annual revenues, and employs nine people full-time, Crowell says. It also employs roughly 650 coaches each summer.


Since 2004, NBC Camps has been owned by San Rafael, Calif.-based US Sports Camps Inc. The Spokane concern now operates as a majority-owned subsidiary of US Sports, and the Crowells are minority owners of the subsidiary, as are some other NBC staff members.


In addition to basketball, NBC Camps also holds volleyball camps, soccer camps, speed training, and family camps during the summer, as well as clinics for athletes and coaches during the rest of the year. Each summer, it selects athletes to compete overseas as part of its international tours program. Additionally, it offers year-round intensive basketball and life-skills training programs here, and is considering launching those programs in Tacoma, Wash., as well.


Although the company isnt targeting specific expansion locations for its summer camps, Western Washington, where demand is particularly high and it currently offers camps in Auburn, Wash., would be a likely choice, he says.


Were not making a major thrust toward expansion, Crowell says. Our growth has been because a parent, more often a mom, wanted a program and got things done.


For instance, NBC Camps started offering volleyball and soccer camps because of demand from parents, he says.


In 1983, NBC Camps expanded to Alaska in response to a request from a basketball team that had traveled from that state to attend a summer camp in Oregon. In 1984, a mother who attended a series of speeches Crowell gave in Alberta, Canada, about developing kids life skills approached him afterward about holding camps there. She helped launch the program the following year, and NBC now runs camps at two sites in Canada each summer.


A few years ago, a man from Rome who had attended basketball camps here in 1988 asked Crowell to launch a camp in Italy. The man now is president of a spinoff operation called NBC Italia, which holds camps in Rome, Crowell says.


In a somewhat similar scene, a man who had watched an NBC international tour game in Great Britain in the mid-1990s told Crowell he wanted to launch a program there. That man now is director of NBC United Kingdom, a spinoff that holds camps on the Isle of Man, which is part of England.


Weve just focused on creating a quality product and letting the expansion take care of itself, Crowell says. In this business, you compete by your product, and our only leverage is performance.


Competition


The sports camp market has blossomed over the past three decades, to the point where competition among camp organizers is as heated as the contests that take place on their courts, he says. The increased competition largely is due to the lifting of state rules across the U.S. that used to restrict high school coaches from coaching their athletes in the off-season, Crowell says. Now, a large number of coaches not only run summer camps, but often require athletes to participate in their camps in order to be a part of their high-school programs, which is great if you have a good coach, but not if you dont, Crowell asserts.


Meanwhile, colleges and universities increasingly are viewing sports camps as slam-dunk fundraising opportunities. Such institutions are able to devote resources, such as staff and facilities, to organize camps in the off-season, which gives them an added advantage, he says.


I say, Bring it on, Crowell says. Competition is good, and we work hard to make our programs innovative.


As part of the increasing competition in the sports camp market, camp organizers often use celebrity endorsements by NBA and WNBA players and coaches as a way to attract kids, he asserts. While former campers at NBC Camps include NBA players such as Adam Morrison, Luke Ridnour, Dan Dickau, Harold Miner, and Scott Brooks, the Spokane company doesnt use such endorsements.


Kids dont need to get a superstars autograph; they need role models that are willing to spend time with them, Crowell asserts.


All-star teams make up another area of growth within the sports camp market. Camp organizers often market such teams as opportunities for young athletes to get noticed by college recruiters, Crowell says. While NBC Camps markets its team camps and specialty camps so that it can attract skilled players, it doesnt promise that recruiters will attend the camps, he says.


To separate itself from the competition, NBC Camps focuses on delivering a variety of programs, such as camps that focus specifically on certain basketball positions like point, wing, and post, or on specific skills like shooting, Crowell says.


NBC Camps programs also focus on life-skills development, emphasizing to kids values such as service, respect, compassion, and hard work during the camps and encouraging them to do their chores and excel in school, among other things, he says. For instance, the theme of the summer camps this year will be Relentless Pursuit of Excellence, concentrating on the importance of diligence and perseverance on and off the court.


Sports are a miniature game of life. They dont build character, but they reveal it, Crowell says. Your strengths and weakness are exposed quickly in a game of basketball.


NBC Camps emphasizes life skills partly because of feedback from parents who want that focus, but mostly because its the primary reason behind Crowells decision to start the company.


I was attracted to camps, because with my background in basketball and family counseling, it was the perfect tool for me to teach really important life skills, he says. I thought it was much more enjoyable to teach kids before they started having problems.


Crowell, who grew up in Anacortes, Wash., played basketball and baseball at the University of Idaho, where he earned an undergraduate degree in 1964 and a masters degree in 1965. At age 23, he became the head coach of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks mens basketball team. In 1967, he became a Christian and joined Orlando, Fla.-based Campus Crusade for Christ as the first coach of an exhibition team named Athletes in Action.


When the Crowells daughter, Jennifer, became seriously ill, they decided to move to Spokane in 1971 and start Northwest Counseling Services, through which they launched the predecessor to NBC Camps, Northwest Basketball Camp, Crowell says.


The couple moved again, in 1975, to Birmingham, Ala., where Crowell coached the mens basketball team at Samford University, but returned to Spokane for good in 1979. During their time in Alabama they continued to oversee NBC Camps.


Crowell says he and Susie sold control of NBC Camps to help ensure its future.


I was ready to give up being the boss, and I wanted to be able to make sure it goes on after I leave, Crowell says. Plus, it gives us the resources to do more marketing and the technical upgrades we need to do.


Contact Emily Brandler at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyb@spokanejournal.com.