Sports Camp

Somehow, August has gotten away from me. I just realized as I was downloading the most recent set of pictures, I never managed to post about Samuel's week at sports camp.

There was a lot of discussion a couple of months ago when we went to sign him up for camp about whether he was sure he wanted to go to a camp with all new "teachers" and where moms and dads did not also attend. I was surprised, but Samuel was adamant that he wanted to go to sports camp, even if it meant really pushing the bounds of what he would ordinarily be willing to do. It helped that the camp was located at the school which is virtually across the street from our house, so it was familiar stomping grounds. Mason also attended, which definitely helped Samuel's comfort level.

When we arrived each morning for camp there was one type of game or another in progress that allowed kids to join as they showed up (usually some version of tag). Samuel was not ready to join those games, but watched while staying very close to me. He was happy to line up with the other kids at the appropriate cone, and by the end of the week, he enthusiastically joined in the assorted skills activities to the best of his ability.

He was definitely one of the youngest kids there - the age range was 4-7 - and the skills they were trying to teach in each sport were often well beyond his developmental ability, but he didn't mind, and I really saw him grow during the week. The fact that he was willing to entertain the idea of something so foreign - new kids, new grown ups, new activities - is a testimony to his LOVE of any and all sports.

Getting his t-shirt on the first day of camp.

I took a lot of photos of basketball, since that was the sport that Samuel was rotated into at the end of each day, when I came to pick him up. He also played soccer and baseball, but no pictures of those. I hear he learned a mean throw in during the soccer rotation.

Practicing the bounce pass. He really was getting the hang of it.

The last day they played a "game" in each sport. The coaches definitely had their hands full trying to orchestrate a basketball game among 4 year olds, but "Coach Rocket" tried her darnedest. Simply trying to divide the kids into teams and get them into pennies held pratfalls not regularly encountered in a basketball game where the mean age is at least as old as the average shoe size.