Summer Day Camp

Drop off will be from 7:45am-8:30am each morning, and Pick up will be from 3:30pm-5:15pm each afternoon. The Campus Recreation Center will be the standard location, unless otherwise noted.

Registration will open in March each year, and can be completed online at myrec.wcu.edu or at the Campus Recreation Center front desk. We do have limited spots available, so we encourage families to register early to secure their camper's spot.

In the event that spots are available in a given week, registration will stay open until filled or until the week prior.

Lil' Cats will serve campers between 8 years old - 12 years old, and will use their age based on each weekly session. For example, if a camper turns 8 years old on July 4th then that camper would not be able to register for the weeks in June, but could register for the weeks in July. They must be in the 8-12 years old range by the start of each weekly session.

Lil' Cats will process payments through the registration process online, but we can also process payments at the front desk of the Campus Recreation Center. We can accept cash, check or credit/debit cards.

The Lil’ Cats Camp payment is due in full (both deposit and remaining balance) two weeks prior to the start of each weekly camp session. A $50 nonrefundable deposit is required to guarantee a place in each session per child. This will be applied to the remaining balance for that session.

A refund of 50% will be given if the cancellation is done two weeks prior to the first day of the camp session by 5pm. A refund of up to 75% may be given if the cancellation is done three weeks prior to the first day of the camp session by 5pm. **Any cancellations less than two weeks of camp will not receive any refunds.**

One of the goals in creating Lil’ Cats, is to provide quality professional experience for students at Western Carolina University. Our camps create an environment for the counselors to apply the skills, abilities, and knowledge they learn in the classroom out in the field. Counselors will mainly consist of WCU students and will be tasked with the daily operations of the camp. The Professional Staff in Campus Recreation and Wellness at WCU are full-time employees of the university and will be involved in all camp logistics, administration, transportation, etc. but will not always be present with the campers.

Lil Cat’s Camp will work to provide accommodations to a reasonable degree to all campers when given prior notice.

All medications, prescription or over the counter must be checked in with counselors. Campers are not permitted to hold onto medications or to self-administer without supervision. Medications must be in the original container. Campers that need assistance with administrating medication should notify the professional staff so that accommodations can be made.

Campers are expected to bring their own snacks (morning and afternoon), lunch and water bottle. All Camper lunches must be in sealable container and edible without the use of heating sources (microwave, stove, hot water, etc.). A camp refrigerator will be available for all snacks and lunches.

In the event the camper forgets, there will be emergency supplies on hand that can be used. Please notify professional staff if this occurs.

Each week will have a Field Trip Day. Each Field Trip Day will consist of 1 professional staff and 1 Counselor, to provide a ratio of 1:5. Depending on the field trip location and activity, campers will still bring their lunches via a Lil Cat’s cooler, or lunch will be provided at the location. This will be communicated in advance so that staff and families are aware.

Campers will be given a brief safety talk from the Aquatics staff on the first pool day of each weekly session. Campers are then given a swim test per American Red Cross standards, campers enter in deep end, tread water for 1 minute, then swim to shallow end (25yds). Based on performance campers will be identified in one of two categories, gold and purple, and given a wrist band correlating to that category. Gold band will mean camper is only allowed in the shallow end, which is 3 to 5ft deep. Purple bands will mean the camper is allowed be in any part of the pool. U.S. Coast Guard approved lifejackets will be available and can be used as needed. Campers will not be allowed to use any personal flotation device that is not U.S. Coast Guard approved.

Individuals can access their financial history with Campus Recreation and Wellness, including Lil' Cats registration, online at myrec.wcu.edu. After you login in with your WCU credentials, you will then navigate to your profile and will be able to see your financial history.

Yes! We will have a waitlist feature on the registration website that you can add yourself too. In the event of a cancellation, we will use the waitlist to notify the next interested families.