Camp Pete

Much like Pete Carroll himself, Camp Pete is a good-looking, high-energy, well-intentioned site aimed at creating a moderated, positive football-oriented community for kids from 5 to 12. The USC head coach appears frequently throughout Camp Pete's virtual world to teach lessons in football and life, as well as deliver "personal" notes of encouragement to your locker such as "Keep up the good work!" and, surprisingly, "Time out! You've been online a really long time and it's time to go get some exercise!"

Camp Pete is an enormous, colorful world which allows kids (in customizable cartoon avatar form) to roam freely, watch videos, play games, answer trivia, chat, and earn tokens. The games were a little barebones when the site first launched, but as Pete's world begins to fill up, the value will come more from interactions with others than simply from the games and activities provided.

Just as it took Carroll himself a little while to become a champion, this game still has a little ways to go. But the man himself is proof that if the right ingredients and attitude are there, it's just a matter of time.

Online interaction: Two chat options allow for either open, filtered chat or canned chat. Chat is occasionally monitored and flagged. Interactions are generally positive, but there is the option for gentle trash-talking and shooting one another with goofy items.