The Climb to the Top

It's been a busy couple of days in tournament play. With the exception of a basketball game and a handball game, we have only semi-final match ups left in this year's tournament. That's a great thing as we only have two days left to play games!

The spirit of the tournament this year has been quite competitive but so much fun. The teams have been relatively humble and have exhibited good sportsmanship. It's been a joy to watch.

Because we are only playing 4 games per session, we have teams taking part in other activities. In addition to going to the outdoor pool today, some teams had a chance to visit the Alpine Tower and Ropes Course. Mr. Nolan LaVoie, Woodberry's Director of Outdoor Programs was on hand to work with the teams.

In addition to awarding Camper of the Day and Coach of the Day, we presented a new award for All Clinic. The coaches and clinic directors sat down and chose a camper most worthy of receiving an award for a specific sport. This camper would have shown vast improvement while attending clinics. The sports represented include; football, basketball, baseball, handball, hockey, soccer, lacrosse, golf, tennis, strength and conditioning, track, and wrestling.

We're still snacking at the Fir Tree and holding our nightly "values" meeting. Tonight's topic is Wisdom - The strength to utilize the knowledge and experience with common sense and insight. I love this quote: "A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top." - Author Unknown.

All is well at the Forest. Enjoy your evening.

Persistence and Dodging Bullets

Last night's value meeting topic was Persistence. "Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill. How appropriate at this stage in camp to discuss such a term. 

UNC felt the agony of defeat yesterday but they are not letting it get them down. Their hockey game against Texas AM was tight through the first three periods. The goalies played their hearts out in the end, the Aggies were able to get a couple of quick goals and then time ran out for the Tarheels. It would be a rough day for them. Their second loss came on the softball field where they found themselves again a tight game. The final was 3-1 Brown. The late afternoon game in the cage against Stanford also brought them a close loss. It was quite a defensive game, but the Cardinals pulled ahead to win 27-24. UNC's coaches are two of the most vocal and positive coaches of camp. We are not worried about the Tarheels and can't wait to see what today brings them!

Handball is one of the biggest hits of the 2013 camp. The rules have been tweaked, but we feel as though we've got the bugs worked out. This is such an exciting game to watch. It's fast and furious and so much fun!

Hockey is also exciting and thrilling. One of the best hockey teams in camp is Miami. They have a goal tender that goes above and beyond when it comes to "saves".

Texas and Wake Forest both played an exception basketball game yesterday. This game was back and forth for 4 quarters. Texas got the final basket and pulled off the win 33-32. Hook em' Horns!

Probably one of the most exciting games of the tournament happened on the soccer field. Michigan and Miami were tied at 2 at the end of regulation. There were no goals during the two overtime periods so we went into penalty kicks. It was so intense. Other games had finished so a crowd began to gather which only added to the excitement. Both keepers made some excellent stops and we saw some amazing kicks. When it was all said and done, Miami was victorious making 3 pk's to Michigan's 1.

We dodged some bullets yesterday. The weather forecast was grim. 80% chance of rain and thunderstorms all day. We didn't have one storm! There was only some light rain drops occasionally. It was fortunate because with the busy week we have coming up, we needed to get these playoff games done. 

Another full week is complete. It's hard to believe we are nearing the end of the 2013 camp. Please check out the schedule for Saturday. I've posted it to the right of this entry. Enjoy your week!