Welcome to the 45th year of Woodberry Forest Sports Camp. This is the largest camp we've ever had. We now have 161 campers that make up 14 teams. WOW! And what a great group. I've never seen a happier group of kids on the first day of camp. The veteran campers have really helped the new guys to settle in. It's great to see all their shiny new faces. Our staff is once again a fantastic group as well. The next three weeks should be great.
BTW... we lost our ability to automatically play music on the blog. (if anyone knows the trick to getting it back, let me know) You'll have to scroll to the bottom of the blog and click the play button. If this is your first time using this blog... You can click on the slide show at the end of this post to view the photos full screen while listening to the music. You should also be able to go right to picasa to get the photos.
After opening announcements and introductions the campers remained with their teams and met with their conference directors. Although the campers are on a "team" - they are also part of a "conference". The teams are competing against each other, but ultimately the conferences are too.
Immediately after the meetings the teams began practicing the sport of their choice. After that the campers broke up into their age groups for some individual instruction. They were either, swimming in the indoor pool, working on their golf skills; driving, chipping or putting, laxing it up, playing soccer, football, basketball, softball or tennis. Soon it was time for their first shower and then they were off to dinner up the hill. Post dinner they were back on the fields with their teams preparing for the first competition which will be tonight.
After evening showers and snack the entire camp gathered in Slane lecture hall for the first "Value's Meeting". Coach Alexander began last night's meeting with one of his favorite quotes, "A reputation of a thousand years can be ruined in a single act". The coaches continued the meeting with their teams back on dorm. They'll hold these meetings nightly in their small groups where the campers will share their thoughts with each other. It's a great team building tool and also for individual character development. Like coach said yesterday, the teams that will be most successful in this camp will be the ones that are a TEAM - Together Everyone Accomplishes More - not necessarily the ones with the most talent.
It's raining this morning... I'm not sure we've ever had a complete wash out day.. Should be interesting. We'll try to remain optimistic that the afternoon will brighten up.
Have a blessed day.
