Category Archives: Ultimate Peace

A storm of hugs

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With a bright sun shining overhead, Training Camp 2013 finished up this afternoon at around 2pm with team meetings. Each team said their goodbyes, and then the kids were off. It’s truly rather jarring that the session is already. On one level, everyone is completely exhausted, but in such a fantastic way that you kind of expect tomorrow to start with breakfast with the kids, followed by more games. While that’s not going to happen tomorrow — we have a staff social day — it’s only a few more days until the summer camp masses arrive at Manof. Training Camp has prepared us well. We’re ready for the 145+ kids. Bring ’em on. We can’t wait.

Flickr Photos Album – 6/29/13
YouTube Video – 6/29/13

Morning coffee was followed by our last dining hall breakfast, part of which was used by the players to fill out the end of camp survey. Afterwards we all filled into the auditorium for a few announcements and some wake-up stretching led by Nancy and David. The whole camp then moved out onto the Manof field for the final camp games! First though, we had to take the all-camp photo.

Training Camp 2013!

While the combined girls teams warmed up for their game, the staff played a short 15-minute exhibition game. I got in for a few points and managed not to totally embarrass myself. I didn’t drop an discs, caught several passes, and managed to throw an assist. I was a bit winded though, a true and totally unsurprising sign of not being in shape. At all. Something to work on. After we cleared the field, the girls started their game with Pink/Charcoal playing Royal/Maroon. The game was competitive, spirited, and full of great plays. It’s truly remarkable how far the girls have come in such a short time. Zone was thrown, deep throws were completed, and patient handlers worked around and through cups. Afterwards the girls circled up, picked a spirit award winner for each team, and then I took some group photos of all the girls. We ended up getting a few new fun shots into the mix.

Training Camp 2013 huddle

The boys finals teams, Green and Orange, then took the field after finishing their warmups during the end of the girls game. The boys played extremely well, with lots of deep shots patient offense, and a high number of very strong d-blocks. In the end, Green took home the win in convincing fashion. Go Ferocious Pickles!

A Ferocious Pickle brings down a catch in traffic

The kids then had an hour to clean up and pack. They ended up doing a pretty good job and by noon they had all brought their luggage to the area outside the dining hall. Lunch was it’s regular loud and spirited self with everyone having a great time. We then moved into the auditorium for the closing ceremonies, which were kicked off by the first showing of the camp slide show and video highlight real. Both pieces were well received with lots of cheering a laughter. A big thanks to video master David Z for spending so much time last night putting together the video highlights!

David then started the end of camp ceremony. He talked about camp, named the starting 7 — the camp’s most spirited players as chosen by the coaches — and said thanks to everyone who made the camp possible. David spoke very well about each person who made UP possible, and then Tomer said some very nice words about Linda, David, and Tomer.

Tomer and David

It was particularly emotional when the whole staff got to get up on stage together. It’s such a wonderful team.

Training Camp staff 2013

Nancy and David closed out the ceremony and then all the teams moved out into the quad for their last team meetings. Team Pink started off by saying what they most enjoyed about camp. The girls spoke very well about their experiences. We also decided that Idan should be the one to take the Pink Ladies flag since he’d be visiting many UP communities in the coming year and he could take the flag wherever he went. We also tied more string bracelets on each other, a wonderful tradition I got from my travels to Laos. Each girl would speak about what they wished for the person whose wrist they were putting the string on, as they tied the string on. It was so heart-warming to see.

Our own Baci celebration

During out meeting I also gave each girl a purple wrist band — a special item from my time at St. Johnsbury Academy. I also awarded Ruba a Black Ice 2013 hat for being named the team’s most improved player. The girls were also given their player evaluations, which, of course, they immediately wanted to read. The last thing we did was get a group picture taken before the girls spread out into the quad to say goodbye to everyone else at camp.

Team Pink Ladies! :)

For the next 30 minutes I circulated around the quad saying goodbye to players and taking photos. Fortunately, many Training Camp kids will be returning next week for Summer Camp, so many of the goodbyes were muted. All over the place kids were finding different ways to say goodbye. The kids were so openly genuine with their feelings for each other. It was truly special to see.

Saying goodbye

By just before 3pm, we wrapped up our hugs and goodbyes and with all the students headed home, the staff gathered up in the dining hall for a feedback session lef by Nancy and David. We talked about lots of aspects of the camp while things were fresh in our minds. We capped off the meeting with many people sharing what they most appreciated about Ultimate Peace. It was quite a series of speeches. By 4:15 we wrapped up and headed back to the Mohadoun to get changed for our time at the beach.

Post-camp staff feedback session

We all then got changed and gathered up at 5pm at the main gates to the Mohodoun where we caught a small fleet of cabs that took us the short distance to the nearby beach. There we enjoyed socializing, swimming in the warm water, and just generally relaxing on the beach. Kelsie broke out her amazing, super fun to use large kite, and several people (including me) got to try flying it over the beach. It was way too much fun. Other people played fun disc games, and some free styled. It was the perfect way to cap off the last day of Training Camp 2013.

We’re all now back at the Mohodoun. Several coaches have already left for home and a bunch more leave tomorrow evening after our staff trip to raft on the Jordan river. Everyone is excited to rest, but they are way more excited for the impending invasion of 145+ campers for Summer Camp.

All is very well in the land of Camp Ultimate Peace.

The pinnacle of the three C’s

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As David always says, working at Camp UP is a marathon sprint. Days like this one make that statement a reality. Days like this one make sprinting the marathon oh so worth it. We have also been building momentum all week, and things have really hit a high today. As Nancy just said, tonight we hit a pinnacle with the three C’s — Collaboration, Communication, and Compassion. Oh, and camp sure has talent :)

Flickr Photos Album – 6/28/13
YouTube Video – 6/28/13

As always, David had coffee ready for the early risers who gathered in the Mohadoun to help wake up kids. He’s actually improved his coffee-making skills and had about 12 cups ready before I managed to take the first cup away. Nice.

UP fuel prepped by David

After another spirited breakfast and auditorium announcements meeting, I transitioned with my Pink Ladies out into the Manof field. We secured our far left tent, cleated up, warmed up, ran a Go To drill and then started our game against the Maroon Mamas. We went back and forth for a few points before going up 5-3 on the strength of our newly built zone defense skills. Maroon worked patiently through the zone, but we started connecting on more passes, pulling down the last goal to win 6-3. On the other field Royal closed out their game against Charcoal.

Pink cup!

Instead of moving to semis, or finals, the head coaches decided to pair up teams and play a game. The new teams, “Lady Shaka” and “Pink Storm” faced off in a strong game filled with lots and lots of skill, spirit, and competition. Zone was throw, deep shots were completed, and marks were broken. Even though the teams had come together from different coaching paths, they ended up complimenting each other quite well. Pink’s fast break cuts worked well with Royal’s strong handler set. Maroon’s strong catching ability worked very well with Charcoal’s strong arms. The girls were also much more energetic on the field as they were now able to play 7’s with subs.

Time to bring that disc down!

After the games finished, the kids plowed through lunch, auditorium announcements, and then moved off to afternoon activities. Most kids stayed on campus, but a fair number went to the pool. By 4:30 all the teams were gathering up in the quad and by 4:40 teams Pink and Royal were grouped up in the middle third of the Manof field for their combined practice. After warmups and Go-To, the girls were run through zone practice where they all played D against the coaches, and then the coaches played D against them. The whole process worked well and the girls seemed to really absorb and quickly apply everything they were taught.

Two hand catching in action!

In the 30 minutes between practice and dinner, I prepped the rest of my talent show act and got to dinner a bit early to have some time setting up in the auditorium. Everything set up as planned and then I enjoyed my first Shabbat dinner since last summer. Dinner ended around 7:40 and the kids were moved out into the quad for some chill time while a few talent show acts finished prepping. At 8 the show began, and what a show it was!

Amir and his bride!

There was singing, dancing, acting, and… everything in between and outside of those categories. The evening was grand.

Afterwards the staff met up for their nightly meeting, followed by a couple hours spent writing player evaluation. The coaching staff was also treated to a late-night pizza dinner, which made us all quite happy.

Tomorrow we wrap up with the tournament finals, coaches showcase game, and closing ceremonies. It’s truly stunning how fast time has traveled this week, and how much has happened.

A tournament, a pool, and a dear friend

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It’s now around 11:20pm and the Mohadoun is alive with the sounds of socializing staff members. We all just returned from an amazing time at the first ever UP pool party. We played hard this morning in the first round of the tournament, then ate, dove, and danced at the pool — a perfect way to cap off a grand day. To top it all off we had a surprise from a friend we all hoped we’d get to see!

Flickr Photos Album – 6/27/13
YouTube Video – 6/27/13

As usual, my morning began with a health dose of coffee made by Director Barkan. Fully fueled for the morning, I headed off to the dining hall with the day’s issue of “Get UP!” in hand, as I had managed to print them out the night before. Team pink had a good time socializing at breakfast. We talked about the previous day and a bit about the schedule for the day.

Milk chocolate in a bag is so good!

Our on the field, after a short meeting in the auditorium, we warmed up and then worked through some more team-bonding activities involving bracelets. We then moved through a short Go-To drill and then our first tournament game began with our game against Royal Blue. We went up 2-0 off of some quick possessions, but then gave up 3 well-earned goals to go down 2-3. We then scored again to get us to half. We continued to have good disc movement in the second half, but couldn’t quite score and ended up losing 3-6. The game capped off with a spirit circle and each team voting on their choices for spirit MVP on the other team. Go Ruba!

Raz puts up a backhand around Areen’s strong mark

We then had some time to rest before playing our second game against Charcoal. We won the flip and pulled into what was a long first point. The girls kept up the long-game pressure, spacing out well into their horizontal stack formation. We went up 1-0, then took half 2-1. We figured out how to keep the disc moving close to the endzone and the girls ran hard through lots of long points. We ended up winning 4-3. Unfortunately, during the first part of the game, our primary handler, Gal, went down with a badly twister ankle. She ended up having to leave camp a couple hours to see a doctor. She’ll be fine, but she won’t be able to come back to camp. After the game, we all went to see her in the nurse’s office. We were definitely quite sad to see her go, but we gave her a great sendoff.

The Pink Ladies visit Gal

Tomorrow morning we play two more tournament games, then the tournament goes straight to 1v2 for the finals, and 3v4 for the, well, 3/4 game :)

Ruba gets a bit of help getting up. Watch out for this girl. She’s going to dominate. Correction. She already kinda dominates. And she’s 12!

After the games, the girls had a bit of free time before lunch began at 1pm. The usual table cheering ensued while everyone fueled up after an active morning. By 1:40 we were all in the auditorium where the kids were told about the various afternoon activities. I watched some Ultimate on the big screen in the auditorium before sneaking away for a short nap, which was fantastically helpful. Sleep is good? Yup.

By 4:30 the kids were beginning to meet up in the Quad to group up before their practices. No one was moving very quickly, and with the depleted numbers on my team and Maroon’s, we paired up for a zone-oriented practice. Practice ended up going very well. We threw, warmed up, and made some great headway introducing the zone. Most of the players had not see one before. It’s quite a thrill to be able to explain seriously important, brand new information to kids. Despite the heat, the girls ran hard and it seemed like they really took in what we presented and had them work through. It was also pretty surreal to practice next to a 100+ foot Bougainvillea spread, with a Roman aquaduct in the background. A little after 6pm we finished up with a “Pink Ladies!” cheer, and then the girls had some time to go get ready for the pool party.

Cutting through the zone

At 6:30, Meredith and I along with a few other coaches and players started the group waiting to board the busses. About 30 minutes later the whole camp has been transported by bus to the nearby pool where we grouped up in teams to enter the area. Inside, as we were just sitting down with our teams in the grassy area next to the pool, I heard a happy shriek and saw a running girl go straight over to… Yasmeen! It was so, so happiness inducing to see Yasmeen! After a long string of hugs, the teams socialized for a bit before dinner began.

Linda and Yasmeen :)

After filling up on a great BBQ dinner, the kids socialized for a little while before the pool was opened. For the next 2 hours the kids swam, dove for discs, and danced. The weather was cool and the true spirit of UP was present in every interaction. A particularly touching moment was when “Waving Flag”, a long-time UP favorite, was cranked up. I had a great tim being a part of the scrum of people in the pool trying to sky each other. Water really helped you get up!

Tomer gets up!

The pool party wrapped up with everyone circling up around the pool. David gave a few announcements, the Pearl crew plus a few backup singers performed a beautiful song in Hebrew, which was followed by everyone singing the camp song.

A short bus ride later we were all back at Manof. Many staff members headed over to the Mohadoun for the staff meeting, which David ended up canceling. I followed suite and called off the head coaches meeting. The extra free time, which many staff members put towards sleeping, was certainly appreciated.

One and half days left. Time certainly flies when you’re having the time of your life.

Sun, wind, shade, and a chameleon!

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Yah, you read that right, a chameleon! The weather was phenomenal and the Ultimate was even better. We had our first full morning practices, chilled at the pool (layouts!), and played some more Ultimate in the evening. Training Camp 2013 is in full swing!

Flickr Photo Album – 6/26/13
YouTube Video – 6/26/13

While I did manage to get to sleep earlier than any other night this week, that didn’t turn in to me getting up an earlier. Instead I made it out to the Mohadoun by 7:30, which meant I had a fun scramble to print out the day’s issue of Get UP! and make it to breakfast. Alas, Tomer and I got the printer working and the issue looked great! Over in the dining hall we enjoyed pancakes and chocolate sauce, before all the teams headed out for their first full morning of practice. The boys bussed up and traveled to Tamra and the girls walked over to the Manof field.

Just as my kids got to the field, look what they noticed! Meredith got him off the ground…

And I got him safely to a nearby bush.

With the chameleon excitement getting us pumped up, my team got cleated up in the far quarter of the field that we had claimed for our practice session. After warmups, we ran through Go-To, played some Hot Box, and then I explained the positioning for a horizontal stack. After an hour break, we combined with team Maroon Mamas and ran through some defensive drills followed by a 15 minute scrimmage.

I was so impressed by the strength of all the kids! Ruba, a 12 year old girl on my team, scored twice with her amazing speed and great catches. Gal, a Jr. Worlds player, had careful throws, and asked me if she could work on her I/O throws during Go-To. Awesome. What I liked best was that my girls did what I asked — Play quick offense and throw to open people as soon as they were open.

At 12:30 we had spirit circle and then the girls had about 20 minutes of free time before lunch. I rested in air conditioning, although it was that needed since they day was party cloudy and breezy, such a wonderful treat after all the hear we experienced last summer. In the dining hall we all experienced the spirited cacophony, and filled up on standard lunch far.

Afterwards there was a quick meeting in the auditorium and then a bunch of the kids took a bus over to the pool. The rest stayed on campus and participated in a slew of activities. I worked on media and planned more of the rest of the day. I also spent some time taking photos at the slip and slide. Needless to say, the kids were having a “decently” good time :)

At 4:30 team pink was finishing up putting on their cleats back in the far corner of the Manof field. After warmups, and Go-To, we ran through a marking drill. Next we transitioned to talking more about horizontal stack, and then drilled the primary cutting pattern. The girls figured it our quickly! Next we worked on a 3-person weave drill, following by some long cutting. Practice went really, really well. Everyone left tired, content, and ready for our first games tomorrow!

After practice we had 30 minutes before dinner. In the dining room we were thrust back into the awesomeness that is eating with our family and table cheers. By 7:40 we were all in the auditorium where we watched a couple Ultimate top 10 videos and then Zolo and crew explained the evening activity.

All the kids are now out and about all over campus on a hunt for Linda. In about 90 minutes they should be tired enough to overcome their UP excitement and get to sleep.

Tomorrow is another big day!

And so it begins!

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Today has been a glorious day. All the kids arrived, the weather continued to be wonderful, and everywhere you looked something awesome was happening. All the preparation, all the setup — all the year round work of the local coaches and admin super stars builds to the amazing 12-day stretch that started today. What a grand experience.

I did manage to sneak an extra 30 minutes of sleep in this morning, which was certainly helpful given the pace of the day. By a bit after 7:30 I made it into the Mohadoun to a round of media catch up and coffee fun. It was quite clear, even in the early morning, that everyone was a bit more amped for the day ahead. We surely cranked through and amazing amount of work over the last few days, but nothing is like the arrival of the kids.

Over in the dining hall we socialized over breakfast and I continued my streak of mixing harif (Israeli hot sauce paste — yum!) in all of my meals. I guess I haven’t quite assimilated the proper amount of Israeli cuisine to fully appreciate all of the dining hall offerings. Outside the dining hall, David led us through one last prep meeting. Karym spoke about some housing topics and Nancy led us through some scheduling items. Next, we spread out to finish off the prep work for our various welcoming-related tasks.

David leads us through our morning meeting

I retreated to the desk in HQ next to Tomer where I typed out some more plans and sporadically wondered out into the quad and around campus to the gates to take photos. With a backdrop of pop songs, the registration table was setup, bracelets were laid out, and name tags were arranged. All was ready nice and early, which was good because the kids started arriving a bit early themselves, starting at around 10:15.

With each wave of new arrivals came a new wave of cheers from the welcoming crew, a team of coaches and CITs equipped with signs, dance moves, and music. Needless to say, they did a very good job at immediately welcoming each new arrival in a big, big way. After moving through the dancing greeters, the kids would walk through the underpass to the other side of campus, a short walk, to the registration table. There they checked in and found more hugs.

It’s so perfectly special to see these kids again. It’s absolutely a homecoming, to a family that reaches its full strength for these two weeks.

I moved through the crowds of kids, taking pictures and gathering hugs. Awesome.

Ultimate Peace happiness :)

The whole camp then grouped up in the auditorium for David’s welcoming presentation. After David greeted everyone, we watched the first past of last year’s slide show, a great way to get the kids even more excited about the week to come. The meeting capped off with the kids being grouped up into their teams for the first time. Go team Pink! :) The meeting ended a bit early so we had some extra time before lunch that we used to have the kids complete the intro surveys.

We then moved into the dining hall for our first round of controlled feeding chaos. The first table stomp cheers popped up, and there was definitely a ramping off of the overall energy at camp. The more kids know each other the louder they get.

After lunch we all went back into the auditorium for the more camp orientation. A new part this year was replacing a verbal presentation of the camp rules and beliefs with skits covering those topics performed by the staff. The skits were… hilarious. It was a bunch of material to get through, but the kids stayed engaged and entertained.

Next all the teams moved outside for an hour and a half of team time —  slot of time used to start to get to know each other. My group talked about why were at Ultimate Peace and shared random, weird facts about ourselves. The coaches then unveiled the team names that they had chosen — my team is “Pink Ladies”, which was then used as the theme to paint a team flag. Ours turned out pretty dang awesome :)

Pink Ladies banner, before tape removal

After painting a smalle flag that will be hidden on campus, and searched for by all the other teams, we started throwing for a bit. Everyone on my coaching team was immediately impressed by the strength of our players! They all have solid throws and can catch… well! Towards the end of team time, we passed out the camper hats, shorts, nd jerseys, which all look GREAT! Go color coordination! Well, all except for the green hats, which don’t quite match the rest of us :) At 4:30 we made out way back to the auditorium where we ran through staff introductions. The kids learned a bunch more rules, and found out that Karym really controls the universe.

By 5:30 all the teams were starting their first practice. My team, Pink, cleated up and then assistant coach Sarah got them warmed up. Afterwards we drilled Go-To, then I had them do a pressure catching drill. We didn’t have too much space to work with so we stayed with small-area drills, continuing through the marking drill, and a kneeling layout drill. I also had them work on their hammers. Duh. Towards the end of the sessions I collected their two goals — two things they each want to work on during the week.

At 6:30 they had 30 minutes of free time before we regrouped for dinner at 7pm. On the way to the dining hall, I picked up our fully dried flag and peeled off the tape. It came out so, so nice! Go Pink Ladies!

Jump!

Dinner was loud, chaotic, and a super nova of spirit come alive. Cheers were passed between tables, the frequency of table stomping ramped up from lunch, and each team presented their flag with a march through the dining hall, presenting everyone with their team name. Oh, and dinner itself was pretty good :)

After dinner we were back in the auditorium for a little more time for some announcement and an explanation of the rest of the evening.

Right now the camp is outside on the field working through 5 Ultimate-game stations. Soon they will be transitioning to a camp-wide game of Galaxy Quest.

Classic Curme charm!

I have no doubt every last person at the Manof will end their day tired, content, and gloriously happy to be at Camp Ultimate Peace.

Peace in everyday life

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Today was awesome. I capped off the third and last coaches training session and was very happy about how they went. All the coaches and CITs are now here which is fabulous. The panel discussion was powerful, and everyone is amped for the arrival of the kids tomorrow.

When I slid into the Mohadoun at shortly after 7am this morning, David was already there busily typing away. I joined him, getting an immediate amperage gain from some of the amazing coffee David had already brewed. He knows how to keep people happy. Get up early and make coffee. Good move. I got some work done sitting with David and Bob before moving into the main HQ office to attempt some printing. Why is it that all technology has improved immensely over the last 20 years, with some unreal exceptions like fax machines and printers? Does ANYONE look at ANY printer and say, “I feel like that’s a stable piece of tech?” Sigh. Anyway… the printer won this round but managed to give up a few color copies before jamming for good.

I continued my work with the other machine, and managed to scan all the drills the coaches had come up with the previous day for their homework. They came up with some great stuff! By the end of the scan project it was time to get out and run the second coaching sessions.

Out on the field the coaches cleated up and Nadav led them through a warm up routine. I then facilitated a discussion about what other things could be done during warmups and then broke the coaches into two groups for open discussions led by Zolo and Josh W covering Zone O and Zone D. After 20 minutes the groups flipped and they covered the other topic.

It’s important to note we had wind and a bunch of clouds during the day. It was… perfectly wonderful weather. The only downside is that it’s not going to hold.

After the Zone discussions, we had a short conversation about HStack and then the coaches had to get to the auditorium for some more training led by Nancy and David. We ran through some very important rules, talked some more about the day, and then transitioned into time with our coaches teams. I had a great time working wit Idan and Sarah on our plans for the day. It was excited to get things down on paper for our plans.

Back in the dining hall we had a great lunch followed by some semi-optional pool time. Us returners could stay at Manof, something I did, working through the afternoon on coaching materials and getting more items planned out for the week. The work was worth it and by 5:30 I was fully ready for the last training sessions.

In the auditorium I ran the coaches through a few last important points followed by group discussions where the coaching groups shared their plans with each other for the upcoming days. I capped the indoor part of the session with some more reminders and then we transitioned outside for some more time working on our coaching plans for the next few days. The weather was cool, the ideas were wonderful, and a great amount was accomplished.

Back in the dining hall we all filled up on an amazing falafel dinner and talked about the day. It’s so much fun to be in the dining hall with so many wonderful people. It gets even more amazing when the kids arrive.

We then had a bit of free time before grouping back up in the auditorium for some more training. David talked about some important points and then we had a panel discussion of CITs who were on the US tour. It was truly inspiring to hear them talk about their stories. The prompts were fascinating, especially when they talked about if they thought there would eventually be peace in the Middle East. Some of the best quotes of the evening:

I aim to make peace in my every day life.

We already have peace. Right here.

I want you to go back to the US and spread Ultimate Peace out.

You don’t need to live in a conflict zone to benefit from Ultimate Peace.

We then worked through our first sing-through of the camp song, followed by some more music outside, the plan being to use it as an end-of the evening chill down track. It was awesome, especially singing the camp song outside in the warm, humid evening. Wonderful.

We then made out way back to the Mohadoun where people socialized, completed last-minute tasks, and relaxed. I ran a meeting with my coaching team, followed by a meeting with all the head coaches. We covered some great ground, had lively discussions, and most importantly it seems as though everyone feels prepared for the days to come.

Sleep calls.

Gathering momentum

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Today was a blast. With about 95% of the staff on hand, the energy levels have risen to new highs. Everything is on the right track for a fantastic opening tomorrow!

I had once again hope to get up before 7 to get out onto the fields for a bit of exercise, but once again my plans were foiled by my need to sleep a bit more. I really am aiming to get to bed at a semi-normal hour tonight. We’ll see how that goes.

Breakfast was the standard fair, with me mixing a way, way too concentrated mix of instant coffee, which I replaced with some pretty good cocoa. I then got some more work done and at 10 we al grouped up in the auditorium for our first staff meeting.

David and Nancy then led up through various orientation sessions. We started by having everyone introduce themselves and say a bit about why they are working at Ultimate Peace. Here is what people had to say:

This is the best tool to get kids to respect and know each other. Ultimate is the best tool.

The mission of UP. We always stay true to our values.

Meeting other people who are also passionate about Ultimate. Learning from each other.

I am surrounded by Ultimate players, although I am not one. It’s life changing. Impossible to stay away.

Attracted to the power of UP to teach most respectful interpretation.

Believe in non-violence. Culture of team sports. A great way to build community and friendships.

Fun. Amazing experience. Helps me grow as an individual.

Ability to affect kids, more than experience of new stuff, being a model, break through frames in every culture.

Can’t think of a better way to bring kids together.

Engagement. Fair and just, best way to bring people together.

Literally broke into tears when she heard of UP.

Live his life to create the greatest good in life. Do it in a direct way. Dream big. Plan big. He needs to do something now.

Super excited about the community.

All about the campers.

Lives for the transformation of the kids during the week, from just getting to know them to huge hugs.

Camp is magic, incredible, setup fast, then a different world compared to the rest of the world.

Loves it all, your life will change.

Comes back because of all the relationships, unlike anything she has ever seen before, can’t imagine not coming back.

Only place where everyone is completely accepting, no stereotypes.

Hopes the camp will change the kids’ lives like Ultimate changed his.

Always been around, here with the idea of thinking globally and working locally, beautiful people and all the friendships, constant in his life.

When you love UP and you are not here, there is something missing all the time… The personal connect. Camp is where it all comes together. Watching what happens with everyone who comes through the program. The small miracles that happen all year long. Camp is who feeds me. Camp puts all the pieces together.

Didn’t realize how big of an impact UP would have on his life, changed me… Changes us all. Got pulled into the family.

Something different about Ultimate, everyone feels the same way about Ultimate having an impact.

After the morning orientation, we had a short break and then gathered outside for a tour of the campus led by Tomer. We saw the boundaries, learned about the two shelters, and saw various building, including the edge of the expansive farm. We then went to lunch and then returned to the auditorium for more orientation training. Towards the end we broke into groups based on which task teams we wanted to work in. I pulled in 5 people to work on media with me and we retreated to the Mahodoun to plan out our media blitz. After the jobs were distributed I setup a second wireless router for the staff and planned out a few more details for my training session. Oh, and my bag arrived! So, that’s awesome.

At shortly before 4:30 I was setup for the coaches training session, and coaches started streaming into the auditorium. The next two hours went very well. We covered everything I had planned for us and the coaches asked good questions. We got exactly the kind of traction I hoped for. During the evening we managed to cover:

  • Spirit of the Game
  • Important points
  • How to teach a skill
  • Drill sharing: on the field
  • Drill sharing: sketch out the drill
  • Summary

Here are some stats for the people in the training session:

Average # of years playing: 12.6
Collective # of Ultimate years: 303

Whoa.

Here are short Spirit of the Game definitions that several of the working groups came up with:

Spirit is the base and unbrella on and under which Ultimate must be played. Playing with the other team and not against the other team. Meeting teams as well as opponents in fair games.

Helps keep fun and perspective. Opponent is opponent not your enemy. It’s what makes Ultimate’s team communication unique. It’s unique.

Unique practice of at all levels pf playing and coaching that prevents winning from taking over sportmanship. 5 UP values. SOTG needs to be coached, glues us together. Fosters good relationships.

SOTG is supporting and encouraging peope no matter what. Golden rule. Value based game that defines the game. It’s in the rules.

SOTG is to be able to trust a person on and off the field. Mutual understanding and respect that keeps the game fun.

In the second half of the session we were outside on the field. Each of 8 groups taught up how to teach a basic Ultimate skill, and then we broke into two groups to discuss horizontal stack and vertical stack offenses. I then brought everyone in, talked about the homework (!), and prepped them for tomorrow. David brought us in, spoke, and then we were off to dinner.

After dinner we all met up for an hour in the Mohadoun so we could go over some more important points for tomorrow and the rest of the week. At 8:15 we broke into our coaching teams to work on our skits — each group has to act out one of the 5 UP value or one of the three C’s. At 9:15 we were all out on the fields playing various and VERY important games like Slack Jaw, Look Up Look Down, Wah!, and Ninja! Very important stuff.

It’s now 11pm and everyone is spread out either working on their homework, sleeping, or socializing. Tomorrow we finish off prep and training… and then the campers arrive on Tuesday.

What a great day.

The calm before the storm

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Coming into camp I did resolve to sleep more this time around. Judging by how things have been progressing over the first few days, I’m not sure that goal is going to be realized. In an effort to get ahead of the craziness that will be tomorrow influx of coaches, and the training session I will be running, I wanted to get this post done before sleeping. Here’s how today went down:

It turns out my new cell phone has a pretty decent alarm that builds to a rather startling crescendo in 10 seconds time. After hitting it several times, I got up and managed my morning routine without the nicer amenities of my checked bag. Oh, I did get an email from the baggage company saying my backpack should show up tomorrow. Yay. After showing I enjoyed a nice breakfast of bread and what I call Israeli Nutella. It’s a bit sweeter and not as thick as Nutella, but still quite good.

I then transitioned back to working on training materials. Linda made a shopping run and picked me up some very tasty wafer cookies that I really need to not eat so many of. In the mid-afternoon David, Nancy, and Amir showed up, so now, really, camp can begin. During the day the Pearl boys materialized, as did Idan. Later in the evening Chelsea, Sarah, and Alice joined the party.

For lunch we enjoyed some chicken and various side dishes. Also, in the late-afternoon a bunch of people went to the pool. During their foray into the outside world I continued to work on coaching materials, socialized with Raz, and rested a bit. I also spent some time working on the camp IT infrastructure, doing battle with a wireless printer, and fixing some collateral damage I most likely caused on a pretty nice SSD netbook.

For dinner we had a great round of Falafel, which I capped off with some great ginger (?) and lemon potatoes. The evening was filled with lots of organizational work, as the various directors buzzed about copying, strategizing, and tackling spreadsheets. Overall, everyone is feeling really good about the full opening tomorrow.

I’m heading back to Israel!

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This summer I am spectacularly excited to be returning to Israel to work at CampUP, a youth Ultimate camp run by a phenomenally amazing organization called Ultimate Peace.

For those of you that like things short and sweet, here’s the outline of what’s going on:

– This summer I’ll be in Israel from June 18th to July 16th, working with Ultimate Peace at two consecutive 5-day overnight camps for Arab, Jewish, and Palestinian youths.

– In addition to coaching two teams of my own, I will be continuing my work as the Director of Ultimate and Coaching. In this position I am responsible for the training of more than 50 Ultimate Peace coaches.

– You can find read all about Ultimate Peace at http://www.ultimatepeace.org/.

– Ultimate Peace operates fully by donations, and each coach is responsible for raising substantial funds to make the camps happen.

– Every last little bit helps, even if it is to just spread the word!

– I will be blogging about all of my Ultimate Peace experiences at www.UltimateJosh.com.

– On 3/28/13 I gave a presentation at the Catamount Arts theater as part of the Osher Lecture Series. My presentation was called “Building peace in the Middle East: One game of Ultimate at a time”. I spent an hour talking about my experience working with Ultimate Peace as well as answering questions from the audience. You can watch the presentation in it’s entirety right here.

– The most recent Ultimate Peace promo video can be viewed right here.

– Please consider supporting us at www.ultimatepeace.org/donate/. If you do make a donation on my behalf, please put down my name on the online donation form where it says “in support of”. Donations are tax deductible.

If you are up for the long version, or want to know why I’m taking the uncomfortable step of asking for money, please click here.

Hope all is well,

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