There’s a saying in the camp world “10for2”. What it means is, we work 10 months out of the year for these 2 months of Summer Camp. There is so much preparation that goes into camp from visiting new & current camp families all over the country, hiring staff, programming and much more that I don’t want to bore you with. Although I enjoy all parts of this job, nothing compares to when the campers get off the bus and camp officially begins. I remember my own camp experiences like it was yesterday and my #1 priority is to make sure all of the campers at Bridgton Sports Camp have that same experience and walk away with friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.
Personally, a highlight for me every summer is the opening & closing campfires. The contrast between these two events will always amaze me. The opening fire, taking place within the first few nights of camp is very short because campers & staff don’t have the comfort level to talk/sing in front of people they have just met. Following three weeks of sports, inter-camp, trips, meals, & memories I can’t explain a final campfire to do it justice. A family had to pick their son up a day early this year and were able to experience this moment and were blown away by it. Every-one of our campers & staff stand up and talks about the goals they accomplished at BSC (Bridgton Sports Camp) and what camp has meant to them. Some of these campers were very shy at that opening campfire, some were homesick, a few are from other parts of the world and know little English, but EVERYONE gets up to speak. EVERYONE is comfortable and EVERYONE sings our adopted camp song, “Wagon-Wheel”, while I watch our senior campers arm in arm with tears in their eyes, realizing their camper experience at BSC is coming to an end.
We have created a strong community/family here at BSC and that is what I’m most proud of. I couldn’t/wouldn’t want to do this alone and realize how lucky I am to work with an admin team and staff that I consider family. These professionals care as much as I do about the success of BSC and work very hard to make sure all of our campers are safe & happy.
BSC 2015 was a huge success! Enjoy the rest of your summer and we have already started planning for 2016.
See you next summer at camp!
Koop
