Dear Campers, Parents, Staff, Alums & Friends,
October has so many great things going on. It’s the start of hockey season and basketball season, the ongoing injuries of football season, and – best of all – playoff baseball! And then the month tops it all off with Halloween. Ya just gotta love it!
With all these different sports on display, I often think about playing when I was a kid, and I also think about being a parent of athletic kids as well as a coach. It’s fair to say a lot has changed over the years. Much of it is for the better. Overall, kids are now safer when they play, the coaches tend to be more capable and well trained, and that’s all great for the kids.
On the other hand, while this is not universally true, pressure on kids to perform in sports, even at very young ages, has substantially increased. And there’s no healthy reason for that. Youth sports was never intended to serve primarily as a farm system for professional sports. Sure, an infinitesimal fraction of the kids playing sports become pro athletes, but if that’s the primary goal, then the whole enterprise is going to fail the overwhelming majority of the kids who play. Youth sports should
- Be safe and fun
- Teach kids to enjoy an active lifestyle
- Teach accountability, discipline and self-sacrifice
- Teach the virtues of team work and hard work
- Reinforce the critical concept that mastery comes from practice
These are the principal outcomes to strive for when we get our kids involved in sports.
When our own kids were in club sports, we noticed an almost competitive nature over how much parents were augmenting their kids’ training. This included things like taking them to private coaching sessions multiple times each week, on top of multiple practices and games each week. When kids are in elementary and middle school, that’s just too much for most children. It causes sports to become “work” for many, many kids. Research concludes when parents are overly engaged in their kids’ extra-curricular activities, kids enjoy them less. In fact, excessive pressure and parental over-involvement are the primary reasons why kids stop playing sports altogether. So how do you know how much is too much? Better to keep things low key, and if your player really wants more, he or she will most likely ask for it.
Some of you may have already had a coach insist that your kids devote themselves to one sport year ‘round. Wait a second…..they’re still kids, right? Not only does that risk repetitive use injuries and player burnout, but it is counter-indicated by the very fact that most pros were multi-sport athletes in their youth…right up through high school. A few notables:
- Aaron Judge: High school baseball, basketball, and football
- Lebron James: High school basketball and football
- Drew Brees: High school football, basketball, and baseball
Why are coaches doing this? A topic for another time, but as they say in politics…follow the money. It’s nothing diabolical, just business making a buck.
The bottom line is that parents are responsible for how their kids engage in these kinds of activities. The pressure is on for kids AND parents, requiring a step back, a deep breath, and recalling why the kids are playing in the first place. We encourage you to talk with your kids about what they want, giving them increasing influence in these truly important decisions as they get older and can exercise clear thinking about it. Youth sports should be fun and safe, and developmental at all levels. Done right, these activities can be formative and positively impact your children for the rest of their lives.
It has been one busy month! We’re very pleased to welcome back the following “old-timers” who re-enrolled in October: SAM KLINE, OWEN LILLY, and CHRISTIAN WALLNER of Chicago, IL; MYLES BRODSKY, JARED LETWAT, and MATTHEW PALEY of Deerfield, IL;  SPENCER SHERMAN of Phoenix, AZ; ILAN REISS of Los Angeles, CA; JOEY & LEO HANDELSMAN of San Diego, CA; WILL FIEGEN of Evanston, IL; BEN ELLIS, ELI GARBER, ELI & NOAH GOLDBLATT, BEN GOLDMAN, COLIN GOTTSHALL, and NOAH LEDERER of Glencoe, IL; SOLLY MERVIS of Carmel, IN; BEN & ZANE FREY of Kansas City, KS; WILL SEXTER of Rockville, MD; JACK DAVISON of Lutherville, MD; MAX BORON, HENRY COHEN, and DAVID FRIEDLAND of Highland Park, IL; JACKSON SHALTIEL of Mundelein, IL; DOX RASKIN of Oak Park, IL; JONAH ZIVIN of Wilmette, IL; JOE & WILLIAM COOVERT, TYLER DEUTSCH, AKIL DICKERSON, DANNY FISCHER, LUCAS LEVY, JOSEPH LOURIE, ALEX MCCLOUD, MILES SETTLER & (after a summer’s absence) JARED SETTLER, and ELI TENENBAUM of St. Louis, MO; JAKE & OLLIE LUCOFF of Omaha, NE; ZAVION STEELE of Cleveland, OH; MAX ELLIOT and CONNOR O’NEIL of Nashville, TN; ANDREW MUKAVITZ, LANDON SELZER, and (after a summer’s absence) HARRY SMITH of Houston, TX; JOSH TRAUB of Dallas, TX; GABE SCHULTZ of Franklin, WI, and LUCAS & OLIVER ARORA from Hong Kong. After a summer’s absence, we also welcome back DIEGO GOMEZ PIZZUTO and PIERO PIZZUTO ALLENDE from San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
Welcome aboard to the following first-year campers who have joined us: DAVID BEHDAD of Los Angeles, CA; REIS LOUIRE and GABE MILES of St. Louis, MO; and ASHTON & JACKSON MAZZA of Seattle, WA. We’re so glad to have you all with us!! |
It is officially reunion season! We have sent reunion reminders to everyone in cities where we’ll be gathering soon. Please set aside some time for camp! We know everyone is very busy, but this is fun and important time for kids and counselors to get together, and we’d love to see everyone as we travel around the country. The 2017 Reunion Video is finished! We bring a slightly condensed version (40 minutes long) with us to the reunions, and then in early December we’ll provide everyone with a link to the uncondensed version (60 minutes), which you’ll be able to freely stream or download. It’s sure to whisk you back to the sights and sounds (sorry…we couldn’t figure out a sanitary way to capture the smells) of our Wisconsin summer together.
In case you need the reminder, here are our currently scheduled reunions:
City Date/Time
St. Louis
Kansas City
Chicago
Cleveland
Cincinnati
Nashville
Memphis
San Diego
Los Angeles
Denver
Dallas
Campers from the Chicago area who purchased a Memory Book and attend the reunion will be able to pick up their books at the reunion. If you cannot make it to the reunion, it will be mailed to you. Campers from all other cities who purchased a Memory Book will get theirs in the mail. We expect all books to be mailed by mid-November, and they are coming to you directly from the photographer.
 After the holiday season, and particularly as the summer gets closer, we’ll have lots of names of great staff members who will join us at camp next summer. At this point, we’re pleased to tell you about our amazing group of CITs who will be with us in 2018. Welcome back to BUDDY ASKENAZI of Denver, CO;  JACOB KLINE, JOSH MEYER, and JARED SAEF, of Chicago, IL; SAM PALEY of Deerfield, IL; DILLON BERLIN of Glencoe, IL; NOAH FOSTER of Northbrook, IL; LEVI RASKIN of Oak Park, IL; JOEY FLOM, ZACHARY HEARST, JACK KAHN, and OWEN TAYLOR of St. Louis, MO; after a summer’s absence, JACK VAN OOYEN of Brooklyn, NY, and JOE & HENRY LEVY of Seattle, WA. We are proud of the young leaders we have, and we’re excited for the great jump start that gives our 2018 staff! |
Out in Virginia, HENRY ANDERSON is playing catcher on his fall baseball team. In Houston, LANDON SELZER has been waterskiing, and was giving slaloming a go. Here in Tucson, AIDAN MEASE joined DAVID BERK for a day trip to the ski lake. They even got Aidan’s grandpa, our awesome kitchen manager BILL MILLER up on skis! In the Chicago area, SAM KLINE enjoyed lacrosse at camp so much, he’s now playing at home. SAM SALZER is busy playing soccer and tennis. Bar Mitzvah congrats to MAX ELLIOT who celebrated in Nashville last month. Fellow camp guys JACK DE REISTHAL and CAM GORDON helped with the celebration. During their fall break, Max and brother GRAHAM paid a visit to their camp friends in Chicago, hanging out with JORDAN PLOCKER, JACK KRISER, JOSH MEYER, and the Family ROSENBLUM. Another traveling Timberlaner was BEN KADEN who was in St. Louis for a soccer tournament, and hung out with GRANT GARLAND, DEVON BIERMAN, SAM SIWAK, JUSTIN GOLDENBERG, HENRY COEN, ADAM POGER, and OWEN FRENCH.
Timberlane staff like to travel too! That includes BRIAN STRAIN who ventured to London where he hung out with “old-timers” JAMES WOOD and JUSTIN LOWRY. Prior to that he was in Los Angeles and hung out with JOSH & ELI KATZ, EMERSON CORONEL, and “old-timer” RYAN COHEN. In late October, JEFF MELROSE came from Florida to Chicago to join up with SCOTT WOLF and “old-timers” JOEY PAWLAN and AARON ZEMACH to take in a few concerts. That seems to be habit-forming. Joneses were also on the move. Last month RICK JONES traveled to Colorado to spend some time with daughter (and “old-timer”) EMILY JONES and with son (also an “old-timer”) FLETCHER JONES. HOLLY JONES cruised up to Canada to watch other daughter (and yep…another “old-timer”) HANNAH JONES represent the US as a competitor in the international Obstacle Course Race. In Chicago, JACOB KLINE has started driver’s ed. DUSTIN COHEN is back at Keystone Resort in Colorado waiting for the ski season to begin along with his job as a children’s ski instructor. Last month Dustin was traveling in Peru and Argentina. Congrats to “old-timer” ZACK COOKE on his new job with the Tempe City Fire Department as an EMT. Congrats also in order to JOEY SALIT who was chosen as a percussionist for the 2018 Illinois High School Theatre Festival. That’s awesome! And while we’re at it, congrats to “old-timer” MICHAEL BREEN who got himself engaged to be married this past month. He and his fiance are traveling in Nicaragua this month.
 AROUND THE HAND WASHING STATION by Scott Wolf HEY TEAM! As I write this, I am packing my bags for a little trip – for the second year in a row, I will be visiting college campuses in Ohio in order to (hopefully) recruit some awesome trippers to come work with us this summer!As I was reviewing my interview questions (and you better believe I am TOUGH), I came across one in particular that really stood out to me: “Tell me about a time you had to live or work with people from diverse perspectives or backgrounds…how did you respond? What did you learn?” This question is so important, and the answer teaches me a lot about whomever I am interviewing. I believe a big part of a counselor’s job is to foster an environment where people who are different from one another can exist together in harmony, and part of what makes camp so unique is exactly that opportunity to live and work (and play) with people from diverse perspectives or backgrounds.Think about the friends you’ve made at camp (campers and staff alike) who were different than you in some way. Maybe they liked sports more than you do. Maybe they weren’t the same race or religion. Maybe they were from another state, or even another country. There are so many different stories and experiences at camp, some obvious and some not, but at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter, and we are all able to put our arms around each other at the campfire every Friday night.This is harder to do at home. Groups tend to be more self-selecting. When we aren’t all thrown into a cabin together, we spend time with the people who are most like ourselves. This is normal, and we don’t even necessarily do it on purpose. It just happens naturally. But one of the most lasting lessons camp has taught me is that I can be friends with people who don’t look or sound or think quite like the way I do. I just have to make the decision to put in the effort to put myself out there and branch out. For the rest of your lives, you will encounter people who see the world differently than you, and you will be faced with a choice. The easy choice is to ignore these people, dismiss them, or even judge them because they are different. The better choice, the choice that camp taught me how to make, is to embrace those differences and work together anyway. Some of my best friends in the world are people who are different than me. It can definitely be scary and uncomfortable at times, but the payoff of learning about perspectives that are different than your own is SO worth it. I hope you think so, too 🙂 Until next time, |
BRAVO TO OUR NOVEMBER BIRTHDAY BOYS & GIRLS: Shaun Kemp – 11/2/2004, Gabe Miles – 11/3/2009, Aiden Scharff – 11/3/2003, Alexa Velazquez – 11/3/1993, Jack Schwarcz – 11/5/2005, Gabe Newman – 11/7/2003, Connor O’Neil – 11/9/2004, Zachary Zlepper – 11/9/1999, Alex Mc Cloud – 11/11/2006, Owen Lilly – 11/13/2006, Max Keller – 11/14/2002, Danny Fischer – 11/16/2004, Virginia Romero – 11/17/1994, Noah Foster – 11/18/2001, Jack Rosenthal – 11/20/1998, Josh Traub – 11/20/2007, Jonas Monieson – 11/21/1999, Jack Davison – 11/22/2004, William Crosby – 11/25/2003, Jackson Shaltiel – 11/25/2003, Jack Kriser – 11/27/2004, Dylan Prystowsky – 11/27/2005, Ajene Cooks – 11/29/2004, Jaimari Cottrell – 11/30/2001.
Have a great month, everyone! Hope to see many of you in our travels. We’ll write to you again in December!
Benches up,
