A Guide for College Students Who Want More Than a Summer Job
All-boys summer camps offer some of the best seasonal jobs in the country for college-age summer job seekers with an athletics or leadership background. They come with real supervisory responsibility, a tight-knit staff community, and a sports- and mentorship-heavy program structure you won’t find at every camp. If you’re a college athlete, team captain, coach-in-training, or just someone who thrives in a competitive, high-energy environment, working at an all-boys camp puts you directly in that setting for an entire summer, not just a season on the sideline.
2027 Summer Camp Spotlight:
Brant Lake Camp, All-Boys Sports Camp
If you’re serious about finding the right all-boys camp to work at in 2027, start with Brant Lake Camp in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Founded in 1916 and still run by the same family more than a century later, Brant Lake is built entirely around its “Sports Done Right” philosophy, and that shows up in its staff, not just its campers. About half of Brant Lake’s 100–120 seasonal staff return year after year, anchored by 30 tenured Key Staff members (age 25+) who’ve built real careers and real friendships across multiple summers. It’s one of the clearest examples of what makes working at an all-boys camp different: real continuity, real mentorship, and a program with a century of institutional memory behind it.
Read our full breakdown: Why Brant Lake Camp Is the Top All-Boys Summer Camp to Work at in New York in 2027 →
View Current Openings at Brant Lake Camp →
Why Work at an All-Boys Camp Specifically?
Coed camps are great, and plenty of college students have fantastic summers at them. But all-boys camps offer a few things that are harder to find anywhere else:
A sports- and competition-forward culture. Boys camps overwhelmingly build their programming around athletics, competitive team structures (color war/team-based rivalries are a camp tradition for a reason), and skill development. If you played a sport in high school or college, or coached one, an all-boys camp puts you directly in an environment built for that.
Real leadership reps, not just supervision. Working with boys in a single-gender environment tends to mean more direct coaching, more structured mentorship, and more responsibility handed to staff early. You’re not just watching kids. You’re teaching them how to compete, how to lose well, and how to lead.
A tight-knit staff community that lasts. All-boys camps tend to build unusually close-knit staff communities, the kind where staff come back summer after summer specifically because of the people, not just the job. That’s not a marketing line; it’s the same pattern you see across established programs: high staff continuity, tenured “Key Staff” structures, and alumni who show up on visiting day years after they’ve aged out of camp entirely.
It’s a genuinely underrated resume builder. Supervising a bunk, running a sports program, or leading an outdoor adventure trip translates directly into leadership, conflict resolution, and program management experience: exactly the kind of thing that stands out in a job interview two or three years down the line. Change lives, including your own. This is one of the rare summer jobs where that’s not just a slogan.
Is Working at an All-Boys Camp Right for You?
You’re probably a strong fit if you:
- Played a sport in high school or college, or coached/trained others
- Held a leadership role (team captain, RA, club officer, camp CIT)
- Want hands-on coaching or mentorship experience, not just a paycheck
- Like the idea of a full-summer commitment with a tight staff community
- Are looking for something that builds your resume, not just fills your summer
You don’t need to be an elite athlete to thrive at an all-boys camp (camps hire far more roles than just sports instructors, see below), but a background in athletics, coaching, or team leadership tends to translate especially well.
What Kinds of Jobs Are Available at All-Boys Camps?
All-boys camps hire across the same broad role categories as any sleepaway camp, though the emphasis often skews toward sports and outdoor programming:
- General & Bunk Counselors: day-to-day supervision, mentorship, and activity leadership
- Sports Instructors & Coaches: the largest and most in-demand category at most boys camps
- Waterfront Staff: lifeguards and water-sport instructors
- Outdoor Adventure Staff: ropes courses, backpacking, and wilderness programming
- Arts & Media Counselors: photography, video, theater tech, and music roles that exist at nearly every camp, boys camps included
- Key Staff / Leadership Roles: typically for candidates 25+ with prior camp experience
If you want a deeper breakdown of any one of these paths, we’ve built dedicated guides for camp coaching and sports instructor jobs, waterfront and lifeguard jobs, outdoor adventure counselor jobs, and arts and media counselor jobs.
How to Apply for All-Boys Summer Camp Jobs
Getting a job at an all-boys summer camp is more accessible than most people think, and you don’t always need prior experience.
At American Summer Camps (ASC), we help match you with camps that suit your skills, interests, and personality.
The process is simple:
- Apply online
- Speak with our team
- Get matched with camps
- Prepare for summer!
We’ll support you throughout the process, from application to placement, so you feel confident every step of the way.
If you’re ready to do something different this summer, working at a boys-only camp is a great place to start.
FAQs About Working at All-Boys Summer Camps
Working at an all-boys camp typically means a sports- and competition-forward daily schedule, close staff relationships, and more direct coaching and mentorship responsibility than you might find at a coed program. Many boys camps are built around long-standing traditions and tenured “Key Staff” structures that create unusually strong staff continuity.
No. Sports and coaching roles are common and in demand, but boys camps also hire general counselors, waterfront staff, outdoor adventure leaders, arts and media counselors, and nurses. An athletics or leadership background helps for coaching-specific roles, but it isn’t a requirement for every position.
Yes. Roles at all-boys camps typically involve direct supervisory and coaching responsibility, which translates into leadership, team management, and conflict-resolution experience: skills that carry weight well beyond a single summer.
The biggest differences tend to be program focus (boys camps skew more heavily toward sports and competitive team structures) and staff culture (boys camps often report especially high staff-return rates and long-tenured leadership staff). Day-to-day counselor responsibilities are otherwise similar across camp types.
ou can search current openings at all-boys camps, including Brant Lake Camp, through American Summer Camps’ job search tool, or apply directly to a specific camp’s jobs page.
Ready to Find Your Camp?
Start with the camp we’ve profiled above, or search current openings across our network of all-boys partner camps.
- View Current Openings at Brant Lake Camp
- Search All Summer Camp Jobs
- Best Summer Camps to Work At (All Camp Types)
All-boys camps offer a specific kind of summer: sports-focused, leadership-heavy, and built around a staff culture that tends to bring people back year after year. If that sounds like what you’re looking for, Brant Lake Camp is one of the strongest places to start, and it’s far from the only option in our network. Adventure Awaits, and for the right candidate, an all-boys camp might just be the Best! Job! Ever!
