DC Cup!!

Soccer isn’t my thing.   I wish it were, but it isn’t.   Like many of my generation, I wasn’t exposed to soccer during my formative years (whenever that was).  So I missed that boat.

I have a rudimentary understanding of soccer.  I know enough to know I wouldn’t be very good at it.  It wasn’t until Dan became director, that soccer became a big deal at Doublecreek.  We played lots of ‘football,’ but it wasn’t the world view of football.

Now soccer is the game time lifeblood of Doublecreek.  One of the highlights every summer is the DC Cup.  It’s our version of the World Cup.  What we lack in scale and media coverage, we make up with passion and intensity.

Our format is similar to the big World Cup.  Notice that I didn’t say ‘real.’  To the campers, DC Cup is very real!  Campers are placed on teams based on two parts planning and three parts random, which makes for some fascinating matchups.  We give the teams names of countries that qualified for the World Cup.   The only good aspect of the United States not making the World Cup, was not having campers becoming upset because they were not on Team USA.

One year, per my suggestion, we named the teams after the planets.  Not a good idea.  I mean, how can you take pride in being called Team Earth?  This week we had teams representing Great Britain, Brazil, Russia, France, Belgium and Croatia!  For a brief period, a dozen or so campers banded together to take on campers from another country.  The games are as authentic as we can achieve at Doublecreek.  We have a referee, linesmen and even an announcer.  And we keep score.  We even keep track of point differentials.  There are even two venues where we played.  Some of the players have jerseys with number on the front and back.  All we need are corporate sponsors.  Okay, maybe I’m getting carried away.  But if campers are excited about playing in our DC Cup, then the least I can do is be excited while writing about it! Goooooooooallll - how was that?

Honestly, I’ve seen more soccer at Doublecreek than I’ve seen on TV, so I can’t claim to be a soccer aficionado.  However, I’ve picked up on two irrefutable facts about soccer.  It’s takes teamwork and it is fun.  Those are two components we celebrate over many spectrums at Doublecreek. 
Actually I’m glad Doublecreek has embraced soccer, or should I say soccer has enhanced Doublecreek?!

 Joe Ray

Hooray for the Holidays!!

What do Halloween, 4th of July, St. Patrick’s Day, and Valentine’s Day have in common other than being holidays? Give up? They’re holidays we celebrated this week at Doublecreek!

Since this is Holiday Week, it was decided to focus on a different holiday each day! We had a running narrative during Sing-Song about a man who hates holidays and thinks all holidays are a humbug. Gee, where did we get that idea?

Monday we had Halloween, I’m still fuzzy about why he thought Halloween was a humbug. I think it was because monsters scared him and he didn’t like candy. Neither of which I can relate to. But because of the Ghost of Holidays’ Past, “Emily”, convinced “Sam” that Halloween was a magical holiday that should be enjoyed.

Tuesday was the 4th of July. Emily took Sam back in time to meet George Washington and King George III! Since King George III really had mental issues and George III played his idiosyncrasies to the hilt, they ended up having duel! Take a guess who won.

Thursday was St. Patrick’s Day. Did you know Leprechauns invented Jenga?! Well, for Doublecreek’s purposes, that’s what happened. After the “Leprechauns” knocked down the Jenga tower then rebuilt it, we had “leprechauns” wake up Sam and do the Irish Jig! Sam decided St. Patrick’s Day is also fun and joined in the celebration.

Friday was Valentine’s Day. Emily had Sam relive painful memories of a Junior High School dance, which explained why he hated Valentine’s Day so much. Thanks to Emily, he was reunited with his long-lost love and after a beautiful dance he finally found true love. It was truly magical.

So, that’s our holiday week in a nutshell. We had something for everyone, you just have to be willing to put aside your inhibitions and join in. Like Sam in our narrative, we have many campers who are reluctant to join in, but with gentle consoling from our counselors, they discover that at Doublecreek -  every day is a holiday.

 -- Joe Ray

Doublecreek's Got Talent!!

This week was Doublecreek's Got Talent! While some of our talent is not ready for prime time, they're ready to perform at Sing-Song. Actually, Sing-Song is our Prime Time! We have one serious issue with Doublecreek's Got Talent. It's not finding talent, it's deciding which talent to use. If we let every camper perform that wants to perform, sing-song would start right after the pledge and we wouldn't end until we board the buses. Obviously, that isn't practical! Sometimes we audition. That seems like a reasonable plan except for one detail. You have to tell some campers they won't be able to perform. That's a tough one. So, we relied on a tried and true method. Drawing names from a bucket. Campers describe their talent to their group counselor and they are assigned a number. The number is drawn from the bucket and like magic, we have our talent show roster. And what a roster it was! Tell me -  have you ever seen a camper who could do tricks with his stomach?!? Well, we did!! Have you ever had someone burp the alphabet?!? Well, we did! Have you every watched a counselor drink a concoction that looked and smelled like something you should run from? Well, we did!! Now, the acts I just described were definitely out there, but we also had acts which could be classified as "normal". We had singers, gymnasts (really good gymnasts), dancers, stand up comedians, martial arts demonstrations, a three piece band, and on and on. If this were the Gong Show, the gong would have been silent! (Except for counselors who provided between-act entertainment) It's amazing to see campers who range in age from 7 to 14, who will get on stage and perform without any outward signs of nervousness. They're not shy, they didn't have to be coaxed; they just went on stage and had fun!

Our campers are what made this week terrific. The performers had fun and the audience had fun. The campers who performed didn't go onstage for money, or to win a contract. They had fun! When you're having fun, you feel good about yourself. Helping campers feel good about themselves has always been our goal. I'm not sure how many talent shows we've had at Doublecreek, but they always end the same way, with smiles and laughter!

- Joe Ray

It's Dancing with the Counselors Week!!

 This is the week I wish I was adept at video recording.  Of course, I’m not remotely capable of operating a video camera or whatever it is called.  Fortunately, we have several staff members who are talented enough to keep the action within the frame.  Why is this week the week for video recording?  This is Dancing with the Counselors Week!

We tell the campers it’s a competition, but don’t ask me about the criteria.  Wait . . . I’m ahead of myself, which isn’t unusual.  How do we select the contestants?  The key word for the selection process is random.  Counselors are selected at random; then they will tell the committee yea or nay.  Campers’ names are drawn from a bucket.  You can’t get more random than that. 

Now, back to the criteria – skill helps, but cute is better.  Also, glitter and costumes that don’t fit can sway the crowd.  The main criteria is, “does the crowd like the act?”  This makes judging almost impossible since all the acts receive loud and long ovations.  One other detail I forgot to mention is that initially each group consisted of two performers – one camper and one counselor, but we didn’t discourage campers from drafting their friends to perform.  One camper had lots of “friends” because we had about 20% of the camp on stage.  Did I mention the criteria for this contest was fuzzy?

The Dancing with the Counselors Week has a second component.  On Friday, all the groups perform a dance routine which their counselors put together.  All week, the individual contestants and whole groups spend their free time working on their routines.   Some groups have a routine complete with costumes and props.  Actually, the preparation for the routines on Friday is the most satisfactory part of the week.  The work that goes into a 45 – 60 second performance is as much fun as the performance itself.  That’s the wonder of Dancing with the Counselors – how much fun everyone has.  The performers, the audience and the parents on Friday all have a good time.  It doesn’t matter if the campers on stage are dancing in perfect time to the music or if they’re completely out of step.  If they’re smiling because they are having fun, that’s all that matters!

-- Joe Rays Dancing