We always looked at summer camp as an outlet for fun and a chance to learn something new, as well as a chance to meet new friends. By the time my kids were 8, they had some very definite opinions about which type of camps they wanted to go to and which they had no interest in, so we tried our best to send them where they wanted to go rather than force them into something they didn't think they would like. Sending them to a camp, particularly a sports camp, that they didn't want to go to, would have been an absolute disaster as well as a wasted week when they could have been doing something they enjoyed. OTOH, one of our dds in particular has always been hesitant to try new things, so if we felt that the lack of excitement over a specific camp was due more to that and felt like once she was there she would be interested, we did sign her up for a few camps over the years that she initially said "no" to and it worked out great - but it worked because we were sending her to a place where we knew she'd enjoy what she was doing once she was there and that her initial trepidation was all about it being a place/camp she hadn't been to before. It wouldn't ever have worked with any of my kids to send them to a camp purposely to work on things they aren't naturally good at and/or didn't want to do.
What we have done though, re sports, is to be sure our kids have at least one sport year-round (the sport can change) that they are participating in some way (participating by yourself counts as long as you're doing it regularly). Only one of my 3 is naturally in love with sports and self-motivated (for her, we have to limit what sports she wants to participate in lol). For my other two, we let them try different sports - sometimes *with* us (parents), sometimes with friends, sometimes just something they thought up themselves. The key wasn't to find a sport they would eventually be "good" at, but to find a sport they had fun with, and that they could continue having fun with through on into adulthood. It really helped when it was a sport that we parents enjoy too. I'm digressing - but what I'm getting at is, our naturally athletic dd has gone to and enjoyed sports camps. Our not-so-athletically inclined kids have enjoyed getting into sports in groups where you participate once or twice a week over the summer (fall/winter/etc) or through activities we did together as a family.
Since your dd likes academic-type camps, I'd look for something that is more of an exploratory type camp (intellectual but not academic boot camp). It could be a science-related camp, ecology, create a book/film/etc type camp, anything that will involve creative and challenging thinking. My kids have loved the camps offered through our local art & history museums.
One other thing that worked well for us was that our dds like to go to camps where they have friends attending - so we sometimes plan that together with friends.
polarbear
