On Wednesday of this week we went to Hershey Park. We started off the day like any other camp sports day with learning groups in the morning. We then boarded the buses and vans after lunch for the ride to the park. I had a blast at Hershey Park. The weather was gorgeous, the rides were tremendous, and the chocolate was scrumptious. We had mincha and dinner at 7 o’cklock and we had another 2 hours afterwards to enjoy more rides. Today in learning groups we started learning about the Mitzvah of Tzitzis. Today I learned about the different symbolisms of Tzitzis and what they represent, ranging from the 613 Mitzvos and how the Techeiles reminds of the Throne upon which Hashem sits on. I cannot wait for another Camp Sports Shabbos and what Camp has in store for us next week. -Yosef Bluth

The week started off as a regular week in camp sports; on Sunday, we learned in the morning and played sports in the afternoon. However, everything changed that night after maariv.
Rabbi Green announced that there were going to be some major trades in leagues, an unprecedented occurrence in camp sports history. Obviously, pandemonium erupted in the beis medresh. A little later, at a peak moment in the action, Rabbi Green announced the commencement of the first ever Camp Sports Color War. It was black and blue against red and white, representing “night” and “day”, respectively. Teams where divided and sent to their first team meeting. Everyone was excited and got a good night’s sleep for the next day.
On Monday, we played some very competitive sports and had an amazing evening at the pool. The following day, an intense Torah Bowl completion was held in the morning. Later that day, we played more sports had an Apache race and even had a camp-wide dodgeball game.
The closing ceremonies began with a dvar Torah from each side. Then each team had the opportunity to sing a hebrew song. After that, the two teams each acted out a comedy skit, garnering many laughs from the audience. Finally, each team sang a unique alma mater song. Before the final scores were announced, both teams joined together in a spontaneous singing of “acheinu,” a true showing of the achdus we have.
The red team ended up winning in terms of points, but both teams had an incredible time and enjoyed the festivities. We are now looking forward to Hershey and the rest of the week.

This past shabbos was Parshas Chukas, our second shabbos in camp sports. We started off the Shabbos with a beautiful Carlebach minyan with ongoing dancing for at least 10 minutes. After davening, we went to the meal which was filled with zemirot and ruach. To cap off the night there was a great oneg with energetic dancing.

To end shabbos day we ebbed off the shabbos with a spiritual kumsitz. After Shabbos, music videos made by each Chabura were shown with the topic being Modeh Ani. This experience was made even more exciting with a surprise from Ilan Brownstein, the beatboxer on Americas Got Talent. Ilan got the whole camp up on their feet dancing into the night. It was a great Shabbos and I can’t wait for the next one!

Akiva Schuck

Camp sports started off with a bang this week. On Sunday, we had the pleasure to hear from Camp Sports Alum, Yaakov Wolff, about his role in the IDF. He emphasized that even if you are not on the front lines, you still play an integral role in the Army’s success. Each of us received a bookmark with the name of a soldier and the prayer for the Israeli soldiers. 
After Yaakov spoke, we had the opportunity to do a tremendous chesed for Tehilla bas Shoshana. Tehilla is a 3 year old girl who live in Israel and suffers from Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, requiring her to undergoes many life-saving surgeries in her short life. We sent her two Hello Kitty picture books, her favorite, filled with sticky notes from each of us relaying his wishes for a refuah shelama. No doubt that this will surely bring true happiness to young Tehilla and her family. 
The day continued with two intense league games and an exciting night activity called “Fear Factor”. We had to face their fears, such as cracking raw eggs on their head, eating a variety of spicy foods, and drinking a “delicious” smoothie made out of various different food items. 
The next day, we left for their first major trip of the summer. After lunch, the buses went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Laserdome, a laser tag and disc golf arena. From there, we headed to the largest indoor sports complex in North America, the Nook. We played basketball, volleyball, frisbee and soccer. It was a great way to end off an amazing day.

Welcome to Camp Sports!!

My name is Gabi Kessler. I’m from Woodmere, NY. This summer will be my 5^th year in camp, my 4^th consecutive year as an Advisor and 1^st as a dorm counselor. People ask me why I keep returning to Camp Sports and never try other programs. My response always is, because Camp Sports is family; and always an amazing summer. Each summer we get an amazing group of NCSYer’s and Advisors. It is such an awesome experience getting to know such amazing people and having an incredible summer together. The learning and sports are so upbeat, intriguing, and exciting. Get ready for an amazing summer, and welcome to the Camp Sports Family.

Looking forward to meeting you all and have the “Best Summer Ever”.
#CentralEast

Hi, I’m Alex Selesny! I’m from West Hempstead, NY and I just started YU after being in Yeshivas Sha’alvim for a couple years. This is my 5th year with camp- second year as a counselor. I’m really looking forward to an awesome summer with all the learning, sports (especially soccer-I know, I’m in the minority- and football), dunkin donuts, and, of course, getting to get to know and hang out with the guys in camp.

Thursday was a packed day here at camp sports. After a nice trip to Hagerstown on Wednesday, we were back to regular learning groups in the morning, followed by league sports. There is one more game left on the season (to be played on Friday), and spots are still up for grabs in the playoffs.

Once we finished league games, the NCSYers continued their 3-0n-3 basketball tournament, as well as continuing the second and third rounds of the free throw contest for Chai Lifeline. Those who were  not participating in these contests either chose to relax, play open sports on the field, or go with their advisors to 7-Mile Market to shop for Shabbos and the conclusion of camp.

At night as we traditionally do every Thursday night, we had our final Mishmar of the summer (can’t believe the summer is almost over….I remember writing the first blog post about Mishmar) and the Bais Medrash was rocking with learning (see our pictures online). We concluded with our final weekly and Mishmar raffles, followed by cheesecake and ice cream. As we move into Tisha B’av this coming weekend, we wish you and your family a safe and meaningful fast, and hopefully this will be our last Tisha B’av we will have with the rebuilding of the Bais HaMikdash real soon. We will definitely keep you updated right here on our blog about our special Tisha B’av programming in camp.