There are a few times each summer when we get to really show off to outsiders what it means to be a Nebagamon camper, and today is one of those days. Our Bi-Camp competition against North Star Camp was today, and we spent the day living our values in competition against our friends and neighbors in Hayward. Over the past week, campers participated in tryouts for our eight different Bi-Camp teams: Swimming, Canoeing, Sailing, Target Shooting, Archery, Tennis, Cross Country, and Chess. There’s a certain kind of energy in the air when Bi-Camp rolls around, and it’s not just the anticipation of competing against another camp, though there’s plenty of that. More so, our campers get to really feel a sense of pride in representing Nebagamon, and what Nebagamon stands for. Over the past week, that energy was on full display around camp as campers tried out, trained, and built excitement for the day.
Among our Nebagamon teams, we have around 75 campers participating as team members or alternates, and the campers were extremely excited to join teams and represent Camp in the competition. So excited, in fact, some were picking up sports they hadn’t even tried before! How complex could running cross country actually be, right? Just put one foot in front of the other. And our canoeing team is always a bit harder to fill – not because we lack campers with canoeing skills, but rather, our most skilled canoeists head out on trips to the Boundary Waters every chance they get. So, while some campers are chess wizards and sailing captains, a handful today are trying their hand at a new sport and competing hard for their camp. We trade off hosting duties each year, and this year it’s an away game, which adds to the excitement as well – it’s a chance to tour another summer camp!
We loaded up the buses and headed about 45 minutes south to visit our friends at North Star for a day of spirited competition. Now, when we say friends, we mean it – plenty of our campers have buddies from school who attend North Star, and some of our staff meet up on their time off. Noah and I are both in regular communication with the team of directors at North Star as well, as we see them at conferences during the winter months and frequently talk shop.
So, when we arrived at North Star this morning, our campers were buzzing, both in anticipation of their events, and the opportunity to tour a new camp, meet some new friends, and see what hot dogs taste like when cooked on another barbeque. Events ran continuously throughout North Star’s lovely property, and Noah and I had the pleasure of cruising around with North Star’s leadership team to spectate and support our campers.
This morning after breakfast, we talked to our campers in the Rec Hall to make it clear that above all else, sportsmanship is the most important value of the day. It would be at least a little understandable if competitiveness got the best of a few of our campers, particularly when competing against another camp. I mean, the “rival camp” narrative is ripe for the picking. Nearly all our campers have a sports rival they care about… You should hear the cheers and jeers when we read the Cubs and Cardinals’ scores at morning announcements. But our campers know that when it counts, “Win or lose, be a good sport” is the true Nebagamon spirit. The banner bearing that motto has hung in our Rec Hall since the 1940s, and campers gazed up at that guiding light as they prepared for the day’s competition. The sportsmanship on display today nearly overshadowed the sporting ability of our campers.
I watched in awe as two campers from each camp finished an intense doubles tennis match, perhaps the most closely contested event today, and moments later were chatting on the sideline comparing and contrasting the menus from each camp. Sure, the tennis was impressive, but the handshakes and smiles following the match really wowed. The younger boys’ cross country heat finished before the older boys began, so of course it meant campers had a chance to teach each other camp games from each camp. And the boys who were trying their hand at a new sport were lifted up and celebrated for giving their all, regardless of whether or not they won. Experienced sailors from each camp got to give pointers to those who were in their first ever sailing race, and made sure everyone felt they were contributing to their team… even though, in classic Bi-Camp fashion, there was barely a puff of wind out on the lake this afternoon.
The spirit surrounding Bi-Camp is exactly how we at Nebagamon want to approach competition, and our friends at North Star share our philosophy. In fact… we didn’t even announce winners today. Now, I bet a few campers were able to survey enough of the team to figure out which events were won and lost, but with an even number of events, we tend to chalk up each year’s Bi-Camp competition as a tie. Today, our boys had a chance today to really show off what it means to live Nebagamon’s values: trying hard, having fun, and being a good sport. Our campers take an enormous amount of pride in competing for Nebagamon, not just because it’s the camp they attend, but because they are Nebagamon campers, through and through, who believe in Nebagamon values, through and through.