|
Dear Parents,
All the NCSYers left camp on Wednesday but we have stayed busy here in Baltimore cleaning up, meeting, and beginning preparations for Camp Sport 2015. I am grateful for the success we had this summer and I already miss the NCSYers. Of course the end of camp can be sad, but for the bonds of friendship that have been forged in camp it is only the beginning and that bring us much joy. Camp ended with much excitement and I want to share with you a glimpse into the last days of camp. I am aware that often teenage boys are not the most talkative, so this may help you start conversation or fill in some missing information.
Friday afternoon after sports we had the Seven Mile Market Challenge. Different learning groups took their learning of Shabbos to a new level with a challenge to buy items at the kosher supermarket that had to do with their learning. Many of the NCSYers went to Baltimore’s kosher supermarket and had a blast with this learning challenge.
Our last Shabbos was incredibly uplifting. Friday night we had a large camp oneg run by our Learning Director, Rabbi Evan Weiner and the singing and stories were so sweet. All of the food bought on Friday added to the fun and gave a new flavor to the weekly oneg. Shabbos day had its regular schedule of classes and we ended with a most powerful Shalosh Seudos. I shared with the boys some thoughts, as to how decisions they make today are beginning to affect their future. I wanted them to know that each Jew has their own special purpose in life and they need to strive to be their personal best. We want every NCSYer to leave with at least one goal of Torah growth, each person will have a different individual goal but setting goals is the key. Aim high is how one should set his goals, but slow and steady wins the race. After Shabbos, our final bowling trip of the year was followed up by our regular pizza.
Sunday morning Rabbi Fried shared with us the laws for the nine days which was very informative. Sunday found us once again playing sports, but this time it was to determine our final playoff seeding. After dinner we finished our 3 on 3 competition and got some free time to begin to pack up. Monday was a serious sports day, full of playoffs and last minute trips to Rita’s Ices, which is kosher here in Baltimore. We then packed onto the buses for our last trip of the summer to an indoor sports facility. The NCSYers had fun running around and playing indoor soccer, basketball, and frisbee, as well as wallyball.
Tuesday, our last day in camp, was a great day and ending to a great summer. After a great final learning program many of the NCSYers went to the seforim store to buy books to learn with advisors in their post camp phone chavrusas. It was another highlight of a great summer. In the afternoon we played the championship round of the playoff and crowned new champions of the Kiddush Kup and Toilet Bowl for 2014. Congratulations to the Quamsa and Extirman8ors on their championships. Following the games everyone joined in a celebratory barbecue and siyum. A big mazel tov to Sean Regenbaum who made a siyum on Masechta Makkos and Zachary Tankel who made a siyum on Masechta Taanis both NCSYers started and finished the masechta in camp! We then headed back to camp to prepare for our final program. We had a meaningful kumzits and many NCSYers spoke about what they gained and will try to continue this summer and beyond. Rabbi Cooper and I spoke to the NCSYers about how this year in camp we became a group in a more meaningful way than we have ever experienced. At Camp Sports we say and believe you are a camper for life and want the NCSYers to know that. The night concluded with a wonderful and of year video put together by Shimmy Socol. The video is quite large and should be online soon. A special thanks to Shimmy for all the great videos and pictures he posted throughout the summer. They can all be found on the NCSY Summer Camp Sports page.
Although we have sent all the boys home and packed up the sports equipment, camp truly never ends. We plan on a reunion and the friends, campers and counselors from camp will get together all year long in person and online. Our biggest reunion will take place 11 months from now when we start NCSY Camp Sports 2015. Registration will begin in early fall, you will receive an e-mail as soon as that starts. This past year we unfortunately had to say no to people who applied late, so make sure to apply early. One of the reasons we had such a robust year was the special offer NCSY sends out for pre-registration, I encourage you to take advantage of this offer.
We appreciate your sharing your son with us for the summer. I hope you enjoy having him back. We always let our NCSYers know that for the past 40 years camp sports is more than just July. Once you come to Camp Sports you are part of our NCSY family and we are there to help in any way we can. This includes you as the parents of our campers. My e-mail is jdgreen18@gmail.com, feel free to contact me anytime.
I want to end by thanking my entire staff. They went above and beyond to insure we had a great summer. They made this year possible and they did it in a professional and responsible manner.
Have a wonderful summer and this week you can ask your son to clean his room for shabbos, we have done it the past four!
Jon Green
|
