The temperature was already climbing by the time I made my way to the dining hall for our scheduled early breakfast. It was great to connect with team Nutella at our table and to catch up on what everyone had done during last night’s evening activity time.

Immediately after breakfast, all of the boys teams were loaded into two coaches buses for the 30 minute trip to the Eilot fields near Nazareth. Along the way I caught a brief nap, something that was needed after not sleeping too well due to a new, fun cough. I feel fine and my voice is getting better, but the cough has been a bit annoying. At the fields we unloaded into the hot sun and walked out onto the turf soccer field which was setup to accomodate two Ultimate fields.

Nutella had a first round by so we rested some more and then Adam worked them through another great warm up. After stretching we worked on some throwing skills and then setup on the sidelines for our game. Before the game I handed out pink “Love Wins” bracelets to each of the kids. I had them write the names of who they play for on the inner surface of the bands.  In our first game agains blue, we went up early and stayed ahead, winning 4-2 on some well placed mid-range throws. Unfortunately, in our second and third games we lost both 3-2, in very close games. When the games ended at 12:30 everyone was ready to retreat back to the buses and out of the sun. Overall the level of play was very strong and wonderfully spirited.

Back on campus we went straight to lunch, and then the kids had a bit of free time before everyone was back in the auditorium for announcements. The kids then had a couple hours of free time and many of them chose to go to the pool. At 4:30 we were back in the center of Manof for some social team time, and at 5:30 Nutella was warming up on the fields for our last pool play game. We started off our game against white going zone, and scored first. We then went up 3-1 on some great short game action, but then white fought back to tie it up 3-3 when hard camp came on. The next point was about 10 minutes long, with each team getting multiple chances to score. In the end, we won on a great smooth long throw from Elad to finish pool play 2-2 and 3rd out of 5 teams.

Nutella then circled up with white for a spirit circle, which we followed by grouping up on our own to talk about the game. I also went around the circle and told every player at least one thing they did really well on the field. We grouped up for one last cheer and the head over to the BBQ dinner in the center of campus. The social time was quite lively as everyone mixed and mingled.

At a little after 8pm everyone moved over to the auditorium for the massively entertaining talen show. There were about 12 acts in all, ranging from a couple dance performances and ultra impressive disc freestyle, to me folding a crane behind my back while taking about the important of practice. Overall is was a fantastic event.

The kids then had an hour to dance, throw discs, and be social on the main field. It was quite the sight. I hung out for a while on the fields and then retreated to the newly setup media room.

Tomorrow morning everyone will watch the finals of the girls and boys tournaments, have a team social session, pack, and then head home. It’s hard to believe we are already at the end of the training camp!