Today was one of the most highly anticipated days at Camp IHC!
COLLEGE DAYS.
A camp classic, this is one of the hottest events on the summer camp calendar.
Oh what a day it was for it! After College Day practice sessions and the Drafts over the previous days it was now time to do it all on the big stage! You could feel the excitement.
The campers started to rock up in their college colors, the face paint matching their t-shirts, their hands wiggled into the receivers gloves, the satisfying slap of velcro being ripped on and off until the perfect tightness was found. Next, the t-shirts were tucked in, flags strapped onto their waists (not for our awesome girls side side who swapped flags for shin pads and soccer cleats!) and we were ready to go!
First of all, because this is American Football we will be stopping to give a shout out to some of our favorite brands every 30 seconds…
The morning started at the flagpole with an inspirational all camp speech from Alan — John Wooden — Semel. It was good to see Alan had recovered quickly from the roasting he got the night before in the SING! skits!!
It was an exceptional speech, a speech about trying hard, doing the best for yourself, giving your best for the team and most importantly.. to have fun.
Once flagpole was over, the camp headed to the fields which had been freshly cut and lined for the day! The American Footballs waiting patiently on the centre spots, the water coolers stacked neatly along the sides of the pitches, all that was missing was Adam Sandler’s Bobby Bushay!
The referees looked serious with their black and white pinstripes and penalty flags attached to their waists, a big shout out to the athletics team for creating a NEW & IMPROVED Rules book for the 2019 season.
On the sidelines the teams were given various pump up speeches from their coaches — another shout out to all the British coaches who were learning on the job. We love to see it!
It was time.
The whistle blew with a shriek and the college days kicked off!
With so much going on it was like NFL Red Zone! Everywhere you looked there were flags being pulled, flags being thrown, touchdowns, fumbles, referees doing what looked like the YMCA, as they called for various penalties!
If you close your eyes you could hear the thud of cleats on grass, whistling, the high pitched screams:
‘I’M OPEN’
‘ONE MISSISSIPPI, TWO MISSISSIPPI, THREE MISSISSIPPI’
‘HOLDING, 5 YARD PENALTY!’
‘GREAT THROW!’
‘HE GRABBED MY FLAG BEFORE I CAUGHT THE BALL!’
Down on the soccer field there were team chants from the girls as they pin-balled their way from one side of the soccer pitch to the other. Throw-ins, goal kicks and goals!
“WHERE’S MY DAWGS AT WOO WOO, WHERE MY GIRLS AT YEAH YEAH!”
The rainbow of team colors made the atmosphere even brighter! Like tiny versions of the incredible USA woman's World Cup Team, these girls played with spirit, sass, and style. Extra points should of been awarded for the black and white soccer socks rolled down over the shin pads, like a 1980’s kick about in the local park.
After lunch and a halftime performance by Madonna, the teams took to the fields for the second round, everything was on the line now, every touchdown mattered, the decision to go for one or two points could change the game. There were no quitters, we even had one team come back from a 27–0 deficit to win with the last play of the game!
You couldn’t write the script.
We’ll be back in 60 Seconds after this quick advert break…
AND we’re back.
After the championship games it was time for the tailgate party at the lodge! There was a bbq, trucks loaded with gatorade, pretzels, popcorn, mac n’ cheese, cookout. The campers chilled out around the flagpole enjoying the cool breeze in the summer sun.
Another reminder that College Days still continues to be one of the favorite events of the summer!
Well done to all the campers that played their hearts out.
They will sleep well tonight…
Hopefully.
That’s all for now folks, the video is coming soon!
