Final Weekend – Session 1
As the sun set on this Sunday evening, our campers received their cell phones after dinner. This would be the last time they can call their parents, because by Saturday, the session will be over. These last few weeks have flown by and I can’t believe we only have 5 full days remaining. The end of today marked the final weekend of the session. It was jam packed with activities, sports, intercamp games and more…
Saturday
I’ve never experienced weather quite like what we have had. It was sun all day, but finally it was a bit cooler. Since our last little storm last week, it has been perfect outside. Allowing us to go about our normal schedules. Saturday morning began just as every morning does. We had an extra hour to sleep though. After breakfast, we went straight into major periods. We go for a little over 2 hours at majors doing a mixture of skills, drills, and game play. Everyone was working really hard.
Intercamp – Indian Acres Basketball
While camp was running smoothly, we had a basketball tournament to attend to. This was our favorite basketball tournament of the summer. The Indian Acres 16 & under. We were an underdog this year, but we sent our best team to see what we can do. Our coach said to the team that if we were going to win the tournament it would be because of our defense. Win or lose, we would be the hardest working team on the court. Our first round matchup was a tight game from start to finish. It was our first game playing as a team, so we were getting all the kinks out and learning to play with each other. The court was outside and the sun was shinning. With 2 minutes to go, one of our campers hit a go ahead 3 pointer to put us up 2. From that moment, everything clicked and we didn’t look back. We had a steal on the last possession of the game and we won by 3.
Our second game was interesting. It was against one of our rival camps; Wigwam. The tournament style was a 2 game round robin with 8 teams competing. The top 4 teams would move onto the semi-final. The seeds were determined by overall record & point differential. Going into game 2, we had an opportunity to claim the 1 seed in the playoffs. We needed to beat the other team by a significant margin in order to do so. Coach spoke to the team and explained the situation. Everyone understood what needed to be done. Our captain took control of the game and got everyone going. Our defense was perfect and that turned in to fast breaks and really solid offense. We scored 82 points in the game, and it was enough to give us the 1 seed.
The semi-final game was against Camp Winaukee. A very skilled but much smaller team than we were. For the first time all day, our players really felt like we had the opportunity to win the tournament. We came out really strong in the first half. We kept everyone fresh and used our whole 10 man roster to win the game. From the opening tip until the final buzzer, we were laser focused and in control. We won by 10 points and were heading to the finals. This would be our 4th trip to the finals of this tournament, but we’ve never taken home the trophy.
When the home team, Indian Acres is in the finals, the place gets rowdy. The game takes place in their indoor hardwood gym and the entire camp is in attendance. It becomes a pretty hostile environment. However, Freyburg Academy took Indian Acres to the limit and beat them by 3 points in their semi-final matchup. They were a really good team with some amazing shooters, especially one kid who must have been averaging 6 3-pointers per game. Before the game, coach told one of our players that his only job for the entire game was to face-guard this kid and make sure he did’t touch the ball. This camper worked so hard and only allowed this kid to take one shot the entire game. It game late in the 3rd quarter and he missed. Our captain, and point guard had an unbelievable game in what would be the final game of his camp career. It was so important to him that we won this game. And that’s exactly what we did. As coach said from the beginning, we will win this tournament because of our defense, our hard work, and our hustle. For the first time in BSC history, we were the champions of the Indian Acres 16’s basketball tournament. It was a sweet day and an unbelievable drive back to camp where we would present Koop with the trophy at lineup. It is now sitting in our dining hall.
Saturday Night at the Movies
A camp favorite. Saturday night at the movies! Every Saturday night, the different age groups spread out around camp and watch a movie together. They get snacks and soda and it’s a great way to hang in pajamas with your friends! Koop hosted all the rookies at his house where they snuggled up on coaches and on the carpet and watched their movie. It was a super cute scene to see!
When the movies were over, everyone went back to the dorms and went to sleep. It’s okay to stay up a little late on Saturday’s since Sunday’s are…..Lazy Bones Sunday!!! That means late sleep in and buffet breakfast! Woo
Sunday
Sunday was a great day. If you forget what we do Sunday mornings, check out our past posts for some knowledge! After our 10:30 lineup, we went into some organized free play. There was an 11 & under soccer tryout too. One of our veteran counselors led a gaga tournament for some of the younger kids. Ultimate frisbee was also going on at the football field. It was a nice and relaxing morning. Everyone was out of the dorms and enjoying the day.
After lunch, we had a nice treat. We had 2 hockey scrimmages against local youth teams. The games were a ton of fun. The first game was for some of the older kids and the second game was for younger campers. The games got really intense! Mostly every camper and counselor from camp went into the rink and watched the game. There was a ton of chanting and cheering going on for our teams. It was a really cool thing to see. Everyone was into it and the players loved playing for our crowd. The players harnessed the energy of the crowd and were victorious in both games. Nothing gets the camp camaraderie going like hockey games!
Right after hockey and before dinner, we had our first night of playoffs for BSL (Bridgton Sports league). To remind you, BSL is a league where campers in different age groups are split into teams and compete in camp games. Games include cricket, capture the flag, volleyball, gaga, handball, newcomb, kickball, and more. For the rookie division, we had our semi-final matchups tonight. Everyone played newcomb. The games were intense and the competition was high. After all, the winning teams of the league get a pizza part at the end of camp, and their team name engraved in the BSL Cup! While the rookeis squared off on the newcomb court, the professional / senior league was playing cricket. It was awesome to see the entire camp up on the fields having fun and competing.
After the games, it was straight to dinner and then kids were given their phones to call homes. The night was done, and so was our final weekend of session 1. It has been an incredible few weeks and we have so much left in store for the final days!
Stay tuned……….
Goodnight from Bridgton!
