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Photos and Articles by Matt Lurrie
It is easy to forget that Campus Kids is not a lone institution: there are three camps operating under the same name and guidelines. And every year, the three camps converge at CK-Minisink (NY) inter-camp games.
New Jersey campers, after a rather long bus ride, took their first glances at their sister camp.
It would be very fair to say that our camp and the camp that we were visiting are vastly different. Many people were shocked, saying that this was "a real camp" or "a camp camp". Lets look at some of the differences.
Their path vs. our path.
Their water fountain vs. our water fountain.
And their cafeteria vs. our cafeteria.
Their wildlife vs. our wildlife (next to the Hackettstown Beetle, nonexistent).
Where they swim vs. where we swim.
And their photo guy vs. our photo guy (well, differences may be subtle).
But enough about the things that make us different. There was one thing that we all had in common-the reason we were there-sports. Campus Kids (all of them) competed in three sports: Soccer, Basketball, and Frisbee.
CK-NJ played two extraordinarily close games (the latter of which came down to the final seconds) but came up just short of a victory. But, since this, too, was a branch of Campus Kids, everyone was a winner. Coaches for basketball were Floyd and Villani.
CK-NJ fared better in soccer, winning two of the games they competed in. I would just like to point out the conditions under which all players were playing in. It was an incredibly hot day in an open field (this cameraman was boiling from standing in one place). The determination and dedication of players from all camps was very great to endure conditions.
Before the match, I had been told by members of other camps that Campus Kids-New Jersey had a reputation for strength in Ultimate Frisbee. Many were intimidated by stories of their triumphs. Now I hadn't realized that these rumors held as much water as they did. If CK-NJ were to have an official pastime, it would be Frisbee, as evident by the games played.
Under coaches Ryan Belline, Paul, Dave, and Virginia campers got a pep talk before taking the field.
They played two games. They won two games. They scored a total of twenty points between the two games. Their opponents in both games scored a total of one. That is not to say that a fierce game wasn't played: it was.
At lunch, New Jersey seemed to have a great deal of pride in their camp, singing songs that date as far back as the 2003 bunk group songs. We also shocked the other camps with an extended game of "Jump, shake your booty".
When lunch was through, and the rest of the games had ended, the counselors, who had been watching from the sidelines the entire day, felt that inter-camp games could include counselors too. So, Staff from New Jersey played the staff from Minisink in soccer.
All the while, campers cheered counselors on. These are some behind the scenes pictures of the sidelines taken by campers (my loyalty was on the field, and not to standing on the sidelines).
Some even met their counterpart (Matt Brown and Matt Brown).
With the completion of that, it was time to head back home. Campers bid farewell to new friends, conveyed thanks to our Minisink hosts and boarded the bus back to camp.
