US Sports Camps manages hundreds of youth sports camps, located in the United States and internationally. The company, based in San Rafael, encompasses the largest network of sports camps in the nation; the company was founded in 1975 by Bill Closs. Billie Jean King, her coach Dennis Van der Meer, Closs provided the initial capital, though Closs bought out the other two partners within a year. Shortly after, Hoeveler gained major ownership interest. Children ages 7 -- 18 attend two-week camps, receiving intensive training in a single sport; the camps focus on nearly two dozen sports. Most camps are held during the summer on college campuses. Camp directors head coaches from host colleges, remain in charge of the camp expenses, facility rentals, the hiring of camp staff; the directors receive incentive-based compensation. USSC handles administration of the camps. After carrying Adidas sponsorship during its early years, the company switched to Nike sponsorship in 1994, now about 70 percent of the camps carry the Nike name.

Nike provides clothing and equipment for the camps, while USSC retains ownership and management of the camps. During 2015 more than 75,000 US and international campers attended a USSC program; as of 2012, annual revenues were near $30 million. Advertising techniques the company uses include ads in youth and sports-specific publications as well as major newspapers in addition to targeted direct-mail campaigns. In 1998 USSC invested $80,000 to create an interactive website, allowing for online camp registration; the site garnered over a million dollars in revenue in one year. It led to a 20 percent increase in business with 20 percent lower office staffing requirements

Grafton Notch is a notch, or mountain pass, located in Oxford County, Maine. The notch demarks the northeastern end of the Mahoosuc Range, thus of the White Mountains. Maine State Route 26 passes through the notch. North of the drainage divide, the notch drains into the Swift Cambridge River into the Dead Cambridge River and Umbagog Lake, the source of the Androscoggin River, which drains into Merrymeeting Bay, the estuary of the Kennebec River, thence into the Gulf of Maine. To the south, the notch drains into the Bear River into the Androscoggin. Maine's Grafton Notch State Park includes the land along the bottom of the notch, extends as far south as the summit of Old Speck Mountain on the southwest side of the notch. On the northeast side, it includes the lowest slopes of Baldpate Mountain; the Appalachian Trail, a 2,170 miles National Scenic Trail from Georgia to Maine, crosses the notch between Old Speck and Baldpate