Yesterday we welcomed 192 campers for the 49th session of our Sports Camp. By 8:30am dozens of boys and their families arrived and were eagerly looking forward to finding out their team placement and who would be their teammates.
Everyone enjoyed lunch after moving into their dorms. There was also time to stop at the student store. Many parents and siblings departed after lunch at the request of their camper but several stayed and joined us at Johnson Stadium for an all camp meeting where we welcomed the campers and introduced the staff. When the campers assembled on the field it was a chance to see old friends and make new ones.
After the final goodbyes, the entire camp gathered inside the Barbee Center for opening meetings. The basic message of the large group meeting was to urge teams to come together by getting to know each other. Coach Alexander stressed the importance of the older boys taking care of the younger boys and also of the importance of the nightly values meetings. Each evening the teams will meet to discuss a certain value as indicated in the Sports Camp Values Manual. Coach Alexander encouraged the boys to feel comfortable in discussing the topics and expressing their feelings. He also told them if they do they should feel safe knowing that their thoughts and feelings would remain within the team. The camp was then divided by 'returning campers' and 'new campers'. New campers met with Assistant Directors for an overview of the 'basics' of camp. They heard about the daily routine, life on dorm and in the dining hall. The returning campers meeting was conducted by Coach Alexander. The boys were reminded of camp expectations and that they are now the leaders of camp. They were asked to be helpful to the new campers and act as assistants to their coaches.
The teams came together again and conference meetings were held. Each Conference Director met with his teams and coaches to set the tone for camp. They talked about winning the conference cup and how they might achieve that. The directors echoed what Coach Alexander had talked about in the big group meeting stressing that it's not the most talented teams that win but the teams that come together, work hard, and are unselfish who find the most success. Everyone wants to win but the quality of the time spent together is what's most important and the teams who realize this will find success!
After the meetings the teams were on the fields and courts for practice. The teams had an opportunity before dinner to figure out their strengths and weaknesses in a couple of different sports. Post dinner they were able to do the same thing in more sports. This morning they'll be back at it.
Before dinner the campers had their first showers and change of clothes and then we were up the hill for chicken sandwiches. We had a brief meeting on the Dick Gym steps before heading back down the hill for more practice. Teams learned how to warm up their arms in softball and over on the football field potential team quarterbacks took turns throwing passes to each teammate.
The evening was beautiful. It was a great night to be outside. Around 8pm the teams showered on dorm and held the first of their values meeting. Last night's topic was 'getting to know your team'. Under this topic was accountability, how we treat game officials, sportsmanship and getting to know your team. The coaches were given a series of questions to ask themselves and also the campers and then use the responses for discussion. Some of the questions were "why do you coach and is your coaching style worth imitating?". For the campers, "what motivates you to play the way you do and is your behavior worth imitating?" These ideas and questions will lay the groundwork for the rest of camp.
As this post wraps up teams are waking up and getting ready to head over to breakfast. Today promises to be a beautiful one with typical Sports Camp temperatures in the high 80's. All is well at the forest!
Below is a link to photos from yesterday. Each daily blog entry will include a link to the album for the day. The photos are embedded in Google photos and can be downloaded free of charge. With the exception of opening day, Old Rag Hike, Water Country and King's Dominion, the goal is to snap at least one photo of each camper. They might not always be in a photo by themselves but hopefully you will see your camper in at least one photo whether it be with a group or a single action shot. The opening day album is typically to give an overview of opening day activities. Enjoy!
Opening Day Photos
