Thursday was a challenging day for us at The Forest. We knew there were storms forecast for much of the afternoon so we planned our day in a way which would allow us NOT to miss any games. Although we were forced to halt afternoon game play we were able to resume just after dinner. Everyone moved at a quick pace and didn't miss a beat. All the games were played and we are right where we want to be with regards to our game schedule.
When the teams heard the large rumble in the skies during their afternoon match ups there were many complaints. We could see some dark clouds around but it didn't appear stormy. Our trainer and camp meteorologist Brad Jones, declared that everyone needed to clear the fields. The indoor games finished up and then we came together as a group.
Gathered in the Barbee, Coach Alexander addressed the campers and talked about how it wouldn't be Sports Camp if we didn't need to seek shelter at least once during the course of three weeks. He said with adversity comes challenges and that we needed to meet the challenge of getting through the rest of the afternoon smoothly. He talked about patience and listening and having respect for the person addressing you. He then went on to explain what we would need to do until dinner. The kids were to have canteen and meet with their teams for about 20 minutes. During their team meeting they discussed their plan of action for the post dinner games.
Now it came time to IMPROVISE. With just over 90 minutes left until dinner we had a lot of time to fill and 180 kids to keep engaged. Since every team and every kid will play several games of flag football during camp Coach Alexander decided to hold a Football 101 clinic. He quickly divided the campers by position. He was to keep the offensive linemen in the Barbee lobby and the rest of the offensive players were to go inside the playing area. Inside, the administrators divided the group by position. There were running backs, receivers, and quarterbacks. Each group was given a talk from the ground up about basic stance and what to do in certain situations. There were also demonstrations. Many of the kids asked questions and even at dinner they were still coming up and wanting to discuss certain things. After about 40 minutes, the groups switched topics and discussed and demonstrated defensive techniques. By the time the clinic was wrapping up, the skies cleared and we were able to make our way up to dinner. The dining hall accommodated our early arrival which worked out great because we needed to complete approximately 1.5 match ups before 8pm. Normally there would only be one game during the evening session.
Cheeseburgers were on the menu last night along with some really good looking cupcakes. Woodberry makes a great cheeseburger! Many of our hungry campers made their way through the line twice. Don't worry moms, they also gathered around the salad bar for a well rounded meal. Actually, this is probably the biggest 'salad eating group' I've ever seen!
Four sets of games were played yesterday despite the storms. Once it was all played out we found ourselves with no more undefeated teams! Sometimes it's fun to have an undefeated team go through much of the camp. It can be exciting and makes for a great story, however it's not ideal and where we are sitting now is pretty close to where we would like to be. Every team has won at least one game -phew... it was close though. Going into the final games of the night we still had one team with zero wins. They were able to come out victorious in a tight softball match up. Even the other team was elated with the outcome.
This morning the skies are clear and the air is cool. We certainly welcome this cooler weather even if it did cause a few hiccups yesterday. It's been a hot and steamy week. Today promises to be partly sunny with temps in the low 80's.
Sports Camp June 19 Photos
