Dear Parents,

WOW! I cannot believe how fast the four weeks of camp flew by. It truly was an amazing summer at Camp NCSY Sports. A month of growth, of fun, of learning more about yourself and your Judaism and even some great sports that exceeded all of our expectations.

I hope you are enjoying having your son back, it certainly is quiet here on the Ner Israel campus, but walking around today and cleaning up I was overwhelmed by all the great memories. I hope your son has shared some with you and you can use this Shabbos  to discuss what he enjoyed about camp and what he learned.  In case you need some information to prod him with some questions, let me share with you what happened this past week.

Shabbos was really the peak of the ruach this summer. Friday night davening and meals were filled with singing and dancing. It is always so nice to see how the camp becomes so cohesive compared to the first Shabbos. If your son randomly stands on a chair during the meal and sings “Shabbos is really, really nice…clap…”, I will take the blame for that. Shabbos day had the same spirit as well as some great learning and classes in the afternoon.  “Ask the Rabbi” was full of some amazing question and showed us how special our NCSYers are this summer. Shalosh Seudos ebbing was the culmination of Shabbos and the beginning of looking back at what we each accomplished. It was the best singing of the summer, as we always say  it was really “One camp, one voice”. Bowling after Shabbos was fun even though it almost got canceled due to the flash flooding in Baltimore, but by the time Shabbos(and some extra singing) ended all the water had receded and the roads were clear.

Sunday morning learning was special and Rabbi Weiner prepared a great program having the NCSYers introspect on their summer in a meaningful way. Sunday we finished off the sports season and I was very impressed by the behavior of all the NCSYers during some intense games to decide who made the playoffs. Sunday night we had the MBA championship and finished the Chai Lifeline free throw contest.

Monday we had playoff games for the Kiddush Kup and Toilet Bowl (last place teams) and then headed out to Four Seasons indoor sports complex to play some soccer, basketball, firsbee and enjoy their heated pool. It was a great way to chill out after an intense day of playoffs.

Tuesday we finished off our learning program and everyone had their final chance to cash in on the amazing incentive programs Rabbi Weiner organized for the summer. We then went to Northwest Regional park for the two championship games and an end of the year steak barbecue. The day ended with a kumzits were some of the campers spoke, evaluations as well as and end of the year video (available online) and to give out the t-shirts.

Thank you so much for trusting us with caring for your son this summer, we did our best to exceed your expectations. As I mentioned at the beginning of this letter, this truly was a great summer that exceeded our expectations.  As I told your son, Camp Sports is something that you can take with you for the rest of your life. Camp Sports takes pride in being a family and that applies to parents as well. If we can ever be of help do not hesitate to get in touch.

We are always looking to improve and make Camp Sports even better. Feel free to share any positive comments as well as were we can improve. We hope to make a brochure for parents of potential campers. Please let me know if you would allow your comments to be used for this brochure.

I want to thank my amazing staff this summer, nothing we accomplished could have happened without them.

Have a wonderful Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh and enjoy the time with your son,

Rabbi Jon Green

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